Thought Leadership
How Mediation Differs From a Judicial Settlement Conference
New York Law Journal
August 5, 2019 by Michael Starr
Most lawyers would say, if asked, that the difference between mediation and a judicial settlement conference is about five hours: Judges tend to schedule settlement conferences to two-hour sessions and mediations tend to take all day. This is true. But the reason it is true is that mediation is a fundamentally different process from a judge-directed settlement, and that different process takes time to unfold . . .[Read more]
In Mediation, Right is Irrelevant
New York Law Journal
May 23, 2018 by Michael Starr
Good lawyering advances successful outcomes for our clients in both litigation and ADR. But the skills that work in trial-like settings (litigation and arbitration) are different from those that work in mediation. The German general Clausewitz reputedly said that “war is politics by other means.” Lawyers who approach mediation as if it were litigation “by other means” miss the opportunity to achieve better outcomes for their clients . . . [Read more]
Trainings
Mediation Advocacy: Strategies for Effective and Ethical Lawyering
Practicing Law Institute (PLI)
November 1, 2017 Lead By Michael Starr
Class Description: Good lawyering can advance a client's objectives in mediation, but the advocacy skills needed are different from what works at trials and hearings. The Nov. 15 One-Hour Briefing, Mediation Advocacy: Strategies for Effective and Ethical Lawyering, will identify strategies for getting better outcomes for clients in mediation, and doing so ethically. Discussion includes: how to communicate intransigence without scuttling the mediation and how to make the mediator an ally in advancing the client's settlement objectives.