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If you are a new attorney and looking for answers to the what, when, where, and why on mediations, the Zinda Law Group team is back with an insightful educational digest. Their professional wisdom fills the knowledge gap left by law school curriculums across the country coupled with valuable tips from the field. For fresh faced attorneys, this podcast will be the solid foundation they need to walk in and out of their first mediation – whether the case reaches resolution or not.
The Effective Lawyer teaches ambitious trial lawyers how to grow their skills and create a prosperous law firm. Using lessons learned by accomplished attorneys from around the country, we discuss lessons learned through their trials and tribulations. Our discussions cover a vast range of topics sought out by attorneys looking for advice, from depositions to how to market your law firm.
The show is hosted by Jack Zinda, Founder and Senior Trial Lawyer at Zinda Law Group. In less than 15 years, Jack and his team have grown Zinda Law Group from 3 attorneys to over 30, spanning several states and handling a variety of personal injury cases from gas explosions to truck accidents.
Jack and his guests share their knowledge and skills that they’ve acquired through the process of building one of the most successful plaintiff’s law firms in the country.
In each show we cover a new topic that an ambitious attorney would want to better understand, while providing practical skills to improve their legal practice.
For more information, visit https://www.zdfirm.com/the-effective-lawyer
Welcome to the effective lawyer, a podcast for ambitious attorneys who want to improve their practice. My name is Jack Zinda and I'll be your host
today. We're going to talk about how to prepare for and handle your first or maybe fifth mediation. Hopefully you'll find some of these tips, tactics, and techniques useful to your practice. Before we get into it, though, let me introduce our awesome team. I've got Neil Solomon here. Hey Jack Neil Solomon. Uh, I'm one of the, uh, senior personal injury attorneys here at Zillow group and I handle severe and catastrophic personal injury cases.
And once again, we also have Chrissy. Hi, my name is Chrissy Hagan. I'm one of the attorneys that's in the law group and I work on a variety of the personal injury cases that we have focusing on the severe and catastrophic case. Awesome. Well, thanks for being here guys. You know, I remember when I first started practicing mediation, seemed like a foreign topic and it's not something they necessarily cover in law school.
And if you've just opened your own practice or you haven't litigated a lot of cases, it can seem foreign or common kind of intimidating. So before we get into it, I'd like to give our listeners an idea of what mediation is and when it comes up in our practice. Chrissy. You want to walk out, walk through kind of what, what mediation is like.
And then when do we usually get. Sure. So I think the best way to approach mediation is as more of an information gathering process. And I explain it to clients as kind of being very low-risk opportunity to just get your case in front of a neutral party, who would be similar to a potential juror that you might have if the case were to proceed to trial.
So it comes up, of course, you know, after you filed a lawsuit, there are some judges that actually order mandatory mediation, which I'm sure we might discuss later. And when it's a good time to mediate and when it's not. But essentially it's where you and your client and the other sides of the defendant and their attorney get in an informal setting in front of usually a retired judge who has a lot of experience and has seen a whole variety of cases.
I'm sure many similar cases to the one year they're mediating about, and they're a neutral party he'll offer he or she offers. You know, his take on the case, what he sees as being some strengths, weaknesses, what he anticipates based on his experience that a jury might do, if the case were to go to trial.
And ultimately the mediator's goal is to try to get the case resolved so that both sides are as happy as can be, you know, having that guaranteed out. I even did some PI work before I came to Zenda law group. And it wasn't until I came here that I really understood the purpose of mediation and that you don't disagree to at every single time.
I remember I was handling a DUI case, which I thought was clearly worth policy limits, of course. And, um, the other side said, Hey, does, you know, does next month work for mediation? I looked at my calendar. I said, sure, it works great. And I went and told, uh, one of the partners of the firm and he was just, he looked at me like, why would you ever do that?
Like, why would you agree to mediation when you think it's a policy limits case? And it wasn't until then that it really started sticking in my head. You know, you don't just agree to mediation every time and you really have to be cognizant of the message that you're sending when you do. I think it's a great point.
And with that, it's just as easy to say. I would like to file a motion to waive mediation and that sends a strong signal to the other side. So knowing when to do that, uh, and, and making sure you're being forceful with it can be really helpful, you know, and I know when I first started practicing, I was a little confused by what a mediator's authority level was, you know, new, you want to talk a little bit about what power they have and what power they don't have.
At the end of the day, they don't have too much power. Uh, and it seems important to tell. Uh, and make sure the client's aware of that, that the mediator isn't going to decide their case. So the only real power I would say they have is to try to make sure that especially in a court or a jurisdiction that requires mandatory mediation is, you know, they usually have to be the ones that, you know, uh, declare it at an impasse for the day.
Uh, but other than that, um, their job is just to. You know, take information from both sides and see what they can do under a number of different, you know, scenarios and tools that they have to try to get the case resolved. And I think, you know, once you understand what mediation is, you know, I think it's important to think through when is the right time to go to mediation on a case.
Because essentially that's sending the signal to the opposing side that, Hey, we may want to resolve it. And that may not be the message you want to send. Uh, and I know a lot of courts require mediation in the scheduling order, in their local rules. So what are y'all's thoughts on when to media medication and just to lay the framework?
Our firm does plaintiff's personal injury. And so someone's been injured. We're in litigation. Typically the discovery process has begun. When do you guys see in your cases? Mediation pop-up and when tactically and strategically do you think it makes sense and maybe it doesn't make sense? Yeah, I'll jump in.
So from a standpoint of, before we even get to filing that lawsuit, you know, most of our cases end up in litigation. However, some of the ones that aren't there yet, um, you will get approached by the defense about doing a pre-suit mediation. So it can start as early as then. Uh, and I think you have to think really long and hard about whether or not you want to do that.
Because a lot of the time, your case is going to get better and you don't know what's there on the other side without getting into litigation. So I'd say very rarely would you want to go into that? Pre-suit mediation. Uh, however, every case is different, uh, and you have to look at each case individually in litigation.
Um, most of the time it's going to be, you're going to do your written discovery. You're going to take, uh, the majority of the main fact witness depositions that need to be done. Uh, and then. I would say one of the main times you generally see it would be, uh, sometime before expert designations. And it doesn't mean that we won't go ahead and get our experts ahead of time prior to that mediation.
Uh, but it can be a good point before all the sides start spending a lot more money than they should. I see that a lot where they want to mediate in the first week after a lawsuit's filed. And I'm very wary of doing that in my experience. A lot of times, especially in a bigger case, they're just trying to see what your number is and if they can get off relatively cheap early in the case, and also to test your metal, what have you seen on that, that front Chrissy?
I know you and I've worked on a lot of big cases. Yeah, absolutely. I think it's most important to first know the value of your case before you decide whether you want immediate or not. Because if you know, you're set that this is a policy limits case, then mediation, isn't going to be very beneficial typically to either side, you know, sometimes you can still.
You know, it's nice to have that neutral party there who can give you some feedback, but I think you made a good point that you have to be mindful of that message that you're sending. Because when the other side says, do you want to mediate? And you immediately are open to it. You're sending that message that you think the case is worth less than the full policy limits.
In some cases, And always thinking about, you know, what's your objective at mediation? I think of it as, as a threefold objective, number one could be to gather information, to find out where the other side is or where they're coming from on a case. A lot of times you can get information from the defense.
That's difficult to get any other way on where they see the holes in your case. Number two could be to figure out how much have they valued the case at, and what's the maximum they're willing to pay at this stage. And then number three, my third objective is to try to get the case resolved and I try to look at it that way.
So I don't go into mediation thinking I'm trying to get a case settled today. It's gathering information and figuring how much they brought to pay. And does that make sense to resolve it at this point or move. No, I think that's exactly right. I mean, the big thing is making sure that you're coming in with the mindset of knowing your valuation and especially if it's earlier on than I think you have to come in with the mindset of knowing what you want at that time.
Uh, and so making sure that you're not settling low before you're getting additional information that may be bad for the other side's case. Yeah. I completely agree. And another thing that. Frustrated or I try to figure it out before agreeing to mediations. Who's going to be at mediation. You know, nothing is more annoying than if you show up to mediation and the people who hold the purse strings aren't at mediation.
So what are y'all's thoughts on who the plaintiff's attorney should require to be at mediation and who should go from our side? So, I mean, to jump in. Starting with our side, obviously the lead attorney on the case. And a lot of times it can be really beneficial to have a second attorney there with you.
Uh, if they know the file they've been working on it with you. Uh, and also it can be helpful at times to just to be able to, you know, talk to the media or have another attorney being able to hang back with the client and work with them. And so it can be really beneficial on the right cases to have more than one person there, um, on the defense.
I guess going back to the plaintiff again, obviously the plaintiff, and then also kind of knowing that there's going to be other decision-makers there. So whether it's a wife or spouse, or if it's a potentially, um, younger person and they want to bring a parent, uh, and then making a decision whether or not they can be there and then how much they can be in the room or not throughout that process.
Uh, and then on the defense side, Like you mentioned Jack, obviously the attorney other side, and then whether or not the adjuster appears in person, you know, I've had mixed thoughts on that over the years. Majority of the time I want the adjuster there in person. Uh, I have heard of times, and there have been successes that I've had where they've assured me the right person's.
Um, there, you have their full attention. Um, here's where they're at and the reason why they can't come. And a lot of times it's a real life issue, like having to travel from across the country or whatever it may be. And so I think he should have taken on a case by case basis, but the default is you want all the decision-makers there.
Um, so you're getting everyone's full of 10. I agree. And I think it's important to get that stuff in writing as well. You know, send a letter beforehand, say this will confirm that you'll have an adjuster with authority physically present at the mediation and get them to confirm that in writing as well.
And. I agree with Neil, definitely that it's a case by case basis. Sometimes I will feel comfortable depending on the case and the relationship with the other side's attorney, that they will have someone with authority via phone, but then sometimes, you know, I get that pushback where they say, oh yeah, yeah.
You know, someone's available via phone. And then. I'll say, okay, well actually my client's going to be there via phone as well. And you know, they'll, they'll say, oh, well, no, we don't agree with that. We want them there in person. And you kind of have that back and forth. Well, it's the same reason. I want someone with authority there, you know, and make sure everyone who is able to get the case resolved if it's going to get resolved, is there.
And so usually we're able to work through those issues. Well, you know, in, in this. It's great to talk through these issues because you know, my belief is I want to always force the adjuster to be there live. And that's just my point of view. And that's what I love about our firm. Is there, you can have different thoughts and strategies, but the reason why I like to always have the adjuster there, one, it it's a sign of respect to our client.
Your client's gone through this terrible incident and they can't bother to show up in person. And number two, I want them to hear from the mediator. Directly how bad their case is and how good of a job we've done on the file. Uh, and I thought, no, you brought up some great points on getting from our side, the true decision maker there, because sometimes it's not always the client, right.
I've had a lot of cases where the spouse is actually the one calling the shots and the person that is your technical client may be terrified to make a decision without that person's opinion. And then a day's worth of work, went out the window because the real person who's going, gonna make the decision isn't there.
What are some examples in cases where you guys have seen that, where it's not the client and then how do you deal with things like attorney, client privilege and having that person still around with, uh, without. Yeah. So in each case it's different, right? So the most common is probably the spouse. And so in that scenario, there is that spousal privilege, um, that, that comes into play.
And so you should have to think about whether or not. It's going to be affected throughout the mediation and how involved they've been. And most of the time for those clients to where their spouse is pretty heavily involved, I've already met them in person before I've spoken to them on the phone, I've emailed with them directly.
And so, um, it's just building that relationship with all those parties that are going to be involved ahead of time. Uh, and so you can kind of peg who you need to talk to and when, as the case is moving forward, and the biggest thing is making sure you're preparing them. Uh, for mediation so that they don't do something, uh, often or, or hurt their case, uh, in some form or fashion that they didn't intend to while at the mediation.
I'm typically inclined to just not have the spouse anywhere near mediation, just for, you know, attorney client privilege purposes. Mostly. I don't want that ever to be an issue that comes up later, but to what Neil said, you know, typically if it's a spouse who's heavily involved, you've already met them.
And even if they're not there physically, you know, they're going to answer their second and third phone in five seconds, you know, they're going to be waiting around to see how mediation's going. And so I think that you are still able to get that confirmation. If it's, uh, an offer you want to accept, for example, pretty quickly, even if the spouse isn't there in person.
I guess the one thing to jump in on is a lot of these cases where a spouse is involved, they may end up being our clients as well, um, through either a loss of consortium claim or otherwise, um, which may protect that, uh, attorney client privilege also. Yeah, we've, we've done that in a lot of cases where maybe it's a claim you may not end up pursuing, but they could hire your firm on their behalf or loss of consortium claim, you know, make sure you're doing the due diligence on conflict of interest waiver.
And following that procedure, but that's, uh, a good way to make sure you maintain that attorney-client privilege. Another thing that on this who's at the mediation is when you're dealing with a case with multiple levels of insurance, you know, maybe an excess carrier or an underline. And one thing that I've found helpful is to find out if they're going to bring an excess carrier to mediation or not.
And that can tell you a lot on how they're valuing the case. Yeah. I mean that, and then also kind of to a point where you just touched on, I think, especially right now, during we're doing this right now during the COVID times. And so there's no in-person mediations. And so, um, I think we're all going to see a lot more as to what happens with doing these virtual mediations and how effective they can be.
I think anecdotally, I've heard a lot of really good things and I know we've had some good results in our firm and I know I'm scheduled for, I believe four in the next couple of weeks here. So I look forward to reporting back as to how they go. Uh, it may change the landscape as to whether or not everyone wants to continue to be there in person or not.
But it'd be interesting to say
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I'm a mistake. I see a lot of attorneys make when it comes to mediation is not doing a good job, preparing their clients because I think there, there is a good amount of legwork you need to do on the client prep side prior to mediation, not as much as a deposition, but I do think it's important to prepare your client for it.
You know, what are some of the things that you guys like to do to prepare a client for me? Yeah. So whenever I'm before mediation, I always have a call with them ahead of time or potentially an in-person meeting depending on the client and how. You're either prep they need or how worried they are about the situation.
Uh, and just really of getting, making sure they're comfortable with the process and they understand kinda like we're talking about now what the mediator can and can't do what we're trying to do while we're there, how they project themselves, you know, a lot of the work, uh, if it's after deposition has been done, uh, with them, but just making sure that they're prepared for, uh, the date and quite.
Yeah, I agree. I think first it's about easing their nerves again, confirming like you would do before deposition that this isn't a courtroom, it's an informal setting. That's a neutral party. It's not a judge. There's not a jury, you know, just making them feel comfortable. And then also discussing the confidentiality of mediation.
So any offers that go back and forth, you know, jury's never going to hear about that. No one else outside that room is going to hear about that because it is confidential. So they need to feel comfortable, but then also not too comfortable because you don't want to break attorney client privilege either, but let them know that there's certainly other conference rooms available.
Other ways that you can speak privately and that you're going to be right there with them, just like in a deficit. Yeah, something that I like to do as well is help them visualize what it's going to be like, you know, so, okay. We're going to be at a conference room table like this, and I'm going to be sitting next to you here.
And then the mediator will come in. And the other side we'll usually have a beginning session where everyone will be in the room together. So they're not caught off guard. I also think there's a lot of emotions that can come into that. Mediations, especially if it's a wrongful death case or a catastrophic injury case.
And I think it's important to prepare your client mentally for what the day is going to be like. It's a lot of hurry up and wait. And a lot of times a client can be insulted by the first offers that come from the defense and not sometimes almost all of the time. And I cannot tell you how many times a defense attorney has almost killed any chance of resolution because.
Uh, somewhat insulting, uh, opening offer or their presentation was a little too aggressive and someone may have lost a loved one and their nerves are really raw. How do you guys go about dealing with that emotional aspect with the client on mediation? Yeah, so right back to what we talked about, that preparation kinda like what Chrissy said, preparing them for what's going to come ahead, letting them know.
And then particularly if there is going to be so a joint session at the beginning where a defense attorney may tell. I prepare them for that and say, Hey, look, sometimes it's as simple as, Hey, we're here in good faith and we hope we can resolve it. And we're sorry about what happened. And other times it's going to be 20 minutes of them trying to tear you down or a loved one down.
And that can be difficult, but just really trying to take it all in. You know, you can take notes if you want, and we'll discuss all that stuff later, but now's not the time. To jump up and down and yell back at them. That's all a lie. That's not true. Right. We can deal with that and we'll be able to rebut that at a later time.
Just take it all in and we'll go deal with it, you know, when we're back in our room. Yeah. And I always tell the clients too, that every time you react negatively or out of anger there, you're taking off some value of your case because part of this is they're evaluating. Uh, in this process and how you're going to do a trial.
And so to keep that in mind, when they're sitting through those, those presentations and doing those things, do you guys ever let the client talk during the opening? Have you all ever done that? Or what are y'all thinking? It's definitely a case by case basis. Uh, I would say the default for myself would be no, you know, they've had their deposition, they're worried about speaking and they would be nervous about it.
And it kind of adds an extra layer there. Uh, and this is what they've hired me to do, right. Is to be their mouthpiece. And so that's part of it, but there's been a few occasions where, you know, a client, you know, generally is happy to talk about it and I kind of want that adjuster or decision-maker from the other side.
To hear her talk or hear him talk about how this has affected them. And I think it can be a positive impact, but I think you just have to be really clear about kind of what's what they're going to talk about and you feel really comfortable with the client that that's going to be speaking with. Yeah, I agree.
You know, usually I would say almost always before mediation, you've spent a lot of time putting together an opening presentation and the client feels extremely comfortable with you being their point person and you getting every message intended across to the other side. And so usually they'll, they'll just defer to you.
And when it comes to those initial speaking, You know, I think it's also, it can be, like you said, a case by case basis when you want to let your clients speak and I've had it worked well, but nine times out of 10, I think it's a bad idea. I want to control the flow of communication information. The other thing I tell my client is I really don't want you to speak out of a turn.
A lot of mediators will try to figure out what your bottom line is by talking to the client. And I try to really keep that between, uh, us. Without bringing the mediator into it. So I try to tell clients do not speak unless, you know, we talk about it ahead of time and you're going to talk to the media as well, even in the private sessions.
What about the information you share with defense counsel? What sort of things do you like to share ahead of time and do a presentation? Yeah. Sure. So for me, the, I think one of the most important things that I figured out more and more as I go along is that, you know, if you want them to evaluate that information, you have to get it over to them ahead of time.
And so I think the majority of the time, uh, you need to get them everything that they need weeks ahead of time in order for it to be properly evaluated, uh, to actually get movement on the data mediation, because let's say you dropped this bombshell on the day of mediation. Well, if you're actually asking for a significant amount of money, more than what they were planning on, that's going to take layers to get approval on potentially.
And so you really want to make sure that whatever you're doing is ahead of time. Uh, there may be other reasons to do a presentation, whether it be. Show the other side where you are and your preparation for trial, how you view the case, and you think it could be useful just to get that out in front of the other mediator and or in front of the adjuster and gauge their reaction.
Uh, and sometimes it's also for the clients also, um, because it's good for them to see how you position the case and how you believe. Yeah, I think it can be helpful, uh, giving a mediation presentation to highlight, you know, video clips and stuff like that from the defendant and how he, or she will present versus, you know, your client.
And then also as far as information you get to the other side beforehand, I think it's also helpful to confirm that they have everything that they need and that you're saying that you've sent. So, you know, nothing's more frustrating than if you. Send a demand and you're claiming X amount and past medical expenses.
And then it's not until mediation that you hear that they never received a good chunk of the bills and records and that they, their numbers don't match up. Or, you know, they're not seeing the same treatment, all that kind of stuff. I just want to make sure that you score way ahead of time so that there's no delays in mediation.
And you know, it doesn't cause the case to not be resolved because they don't have everything. Yeah, I think you've got a back. I like to back channel with defense counsel as well and ask them, Hey, what, what information does your adjuster need to come to the mediation with fair and full value for this case?
Because it does no one any good. If, if there's a piece of information they need that they don't have. I also look at the presentation as your ability to have an. Varnished way to talk to the adjuster and something I know we've started doing recently is doing the presentation ahead of time and actually sending it as part of our demand.
So it gets to the adjuster even before mediation itself, which I think can be really, really useful, because like you said, there's nothing more frustrated than in the first 10 minutes of mediation say, Hey, we think you have a really strong case. But we didn't bring nearly enough money because we didn't know back a, B and C, you're telling us today.
So let's break and revisit in two months where you could have got ahead of that. If you shared that a month out. And I look at it, I like to set a deadline of three weeks out prior to mediation to try to get everything to the other side. What, what timeframe do you guys like to use at least two weeks?
Ideally it's three weeks to a month out. You're depending on the cases. Well, let let's talk about when to leave a mediation, because sometimes it can be an effective tool to leave prior to mediation being over. Um, how do you know when to walk out that the mediation isn't going in a direction that's going to be useful or helpful to, uh, either.
I think this is where it's extremely helpful to know the value of your case before going into mediation, because if you're just completely off, you know, sometimes you're off in the beginning, of course, but if it remains that way for a while, and it's very clear that the adjuster and the other side have nowhere near the authority to get the case resolved for what you and your client have discussed and what you believe the case is worth, then there's, it's not doing anyone any good to just accept whatever that may be just to get the case resolved.
Yeah, I mean, Taiji such a short answer, but it's just all about feel, right. If it's not going well, and it doesn't seem like it's going to go forward and then sometimes you seem to walk out and call it a day early. A big way to do is to talk to the mediator and you can generally get a feel from them and just find out, Hey, you know, are they going to have anywhere close to what we need to settle today?
And a lot of times they can feel it out. No, because these mediators are doing hundreds, if not thousands of these mediations. So those are kind of my initial thoughts on that. Yeah, I agree. And I think, you know, I, I'm a big believer in you, uh, talk quietly and carry a big stick. I don't like making a big show of things and, and marching out.
I do think it's okay to leave a mediation very early if the wrong people are there or if they don't make serious movement early on, I think that's also a reason why you have to be very careful on mediating early in a case, because in our experience on big cases, usually the whole purpose of that early mediation is for the defense.
To try and see what your maximum is early on to see if you're undervaluing the case. So I think you gotta be very careful of that also, but I, I can only think of a couple of times where we literally stormed out in somewhat of anger. It's usually like, Hey, this just isn't being productive. Let's call it a day and come back and talk later, if at all.
Well, let's, let's talk about some nuts and bolts things. You know, if you've meet, if your media and your first case, uh, Fifth time you've gone to mediation. You didn't do it right. The first four, let's say you come to resolution. What sort of documents are exchanged with the mediator and with opposing counsel and what do you actually leave with and what should you think about when.
Uh, resolve any case at mediation. So the biggest, most common thing that happens is there's some sort of mediated settlement agreement or rule 11 agreement in Texas, which basically just means that you have an agreement to settle. Uh, and so at that point, it lays out some of the basic framework of generally who's going to draft the documents in our field.
It's generally the defense counsel, uh, and I think it's best I to get in. Into the agreement, the logistics. So how quickly are they going to draft those documents and how quickly is the check going to be provided, uh, and the order that it's going to take place. And so making sure those things are in there helps to clarify the situation.
Uh, and I've seen a lot of mediators who actually, you know, early on put that mediated settlement agreement on the table without the number of pills. To try to set the tone one and two to just make sure everyone's okay with the terms so that you're not fighting over logistics at the end. And I think probably the biggest, uh, issue that pops up is confidentiality agreements of where that has not been negotiated.
And then you settle the case and they go, oh yeah, by the way, that's a non-starter it has to be one in there. And so I think you have to decide early on whether it is or isn't and it can be useful to get that knocked out early on. Yeah, I agree. You know, typically after there's going to be that the documentation just confirming that mediation did take place.
You may need to check with your specific court that you're in. So in Colorado, for example, a lot of courts will require you to file something confirming that you did complete the mandatory mediation. If it's required. Particular court. And then sometimes I think it's even helpful to have the other side prepare the release that your client's going to need to sign.
Especially if you have a client who, you know, wouldn't be very tech savvy and getting the signed and notarized release back from you. If everyone leaves and you know, you're trying to get the case wrapped up as quick as you can for them. And the release is the only thing, really holding everything up afterwards.
Yeah. And I think that brings up another point. You know, when we're negotiating these cases with the mediator, how much you want to tell the mediator during the case, I think matters a lot or during the mediation, although anything you tell them is technically confidential. I typically don't tell the mediator anything.
I don't want the other side to know for a couple reasons. One. Uh, the mediator's incentive is to get the case resolved. That's what they're there to do. That may not be our objective. Our objective is to find out how much money the other side has. And once the mediator knows what your number might be.
They may unintentionally push the resolution towards a certain number, which is below what you think you can actually get. Uh, so I'm a big believer in, I don't share anything with the mediator. I don't want to go to the other side that may offend some of my mediator friends out there, but that's just, that's been my.
No, I think you have to be careful about what you're sharing. Um, and a lot of times you established relationships with a lot of the same mediators. And so, uh, you have an idea of what types of information you can or can share. Um, but I think a lot of the information is good things to remind your client for stepping in about what information of anything.
Like Jackie said, you can take the approach of just don't talk to the mediator. Uh, other times I may, he will, let's only talk about this information, but not this. And so, uh, I think, make sure you're taking control of that situation and I'll never forget a time. I was mediating a case with a media or I'd never used before.
And it was in east Texas and we were getting pretty close to the number. I thought we could get the case resolved at, and my client had not spoken the entire media. And the meteor came back with a number that was above what we thought the case was valued at. So we're going to take it, but I was trying to get more money out of the defense side and I make a big show.
I say, that's ridiculous. We're not going to accept that number. It's nowhere near, what's going to get this case done. And for the first time all day, my client pipes up and says, I thought our bottom line was below. Well, what are you doing? And you're kind of chuckled. And I said, okay, this remember the confidentiality part.
Okay. So this is all confidential. Here's what I want you to take back to the other side. So I learned hard way. You've really got to press that client don't talk issue during your case. Well, guys, this has been great. If, if you had one tip or one thought to leave, uh, an attorney new to mediating cases, what, what tip or thought would.
Number one is prepare ahead of time. And so what I found an even on the defense side before coming to the plaintiff's side, uh, is it's very frustrating to get to mediation and not have proper lien information or not have proper medical bills. And so preparing ahead of time for mediation, so you can be as productive and actually know real numbers and know what's going to happen is extremely.
So just making sure you're prepared. And then the second thing I'd actually put with that is, is making sure you're familiar with what you're conveying to the mediator. So kind of to your point, I generally would be pretty close to the vest, especially early on as to what we're looking for. And I think that's really helpful, uh, and making sure that you're not tipping your hand early on.
I would say, just make sure you're setting reasonable expectations with your client prior to the mediation, so that you're both on the same page and, you know, importantly letting them know that the first number that you throw out as the demand doesn't necessarily have a direct correlation to what you think the case of whatever resolve for, and kind of how that back and forth, you know, how you expect it to go throughout the day.
Yeah, I think that's, that's really critical because a lot of times the client, whatever number they hear, they think that's what my case is worth. And you spend half the time talking them down from an unrealistic expectation. You know, my one tip would be go into mediation, confident, knowing your case value.
And I think you really need to stress test it because the defense is going to be telling you it's worth less. The mediator's going to be telling you it's worth less. You really need to know what your case is worth prior to showing up there. And be confident about it and be prepared to walk away because that's really the only way you're going to get true value for your cases.
If you're willing to go try it and walk out a mediation, because a lot of times in these bigger cases and even smaller ones, we'll have to mediate it two, three times to get the true value out of, uh, out of a case or right next to trial. Well guys, thank you so much for, uh, being on the show today. I really appreciate it as always.
I typically have a book recommendation. The recommendation today is an old classic book getting to yes. Uh, which is a great book on, uh, how to negotiate and how to work through issues to try to get a resolution that works for. But, uh, I appreciate it guys. And everyone have a great and safe weekend.
thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode of the effective order. If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to rate it five stars and leave us a review to get notified about new episodes that are upcoming or been released. Go to ZD firm.com/podcast center for a mailing list. .