PERSONAL INJURY

In our country, claims of injury are not dealt with by injuring somebody back — it’s not eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. We can only compensate some one we have injured with money.  Frequently someone who injures another calls their insurance company and tells them “I’ve had a car accident and the other driver was hurt.”  The injured person calls his lawyer and tells them “I was in an accident and I was hurt.”  Then the insurance claims adjustor and the attorney begin a negotiation process to settle the claim for injury.  If the negotiations fail, the attorney sues the person who caused the accident hoping the judge and a jury will be sympathetic enough to award his client a lot of money.  This takes months, often years.  You need witnesses, expert testimony, charts, diagrams, doctors’ reports and testimony, depositions,  and so on.  The cost of going to trial is extremely high!

But there is another way!  Mediation!  At mediation, in the auto accident I spoke of, you, the injured party, and your attorney meet together with the other party and her attorney, or in most cases just the insurance adjustor, to talk about this case.  This conversation is facilitated by a trained, impartial mediator.  Your mediator will let each side tell their stories, how painful the injury was, and how long it took before you could play tennis again.  The insurance adjustor will want to know about your medical treatment and bills.  She may even ask if you had your seat belts on to learn if you contributed to the injury?

Then the mediator will meet with each party privately to assist them with a process that helps the attorney or adjuster assess the case for his client and to see if this claim can be satisfied without having to go to court.  She will begin an assisted negotiation process until both sides agree on a fair settlement.  The mediator will not, repeat, will not make a decision for the partes.  The parties themselves will make all the decisions.

This process is quicker, and far less expensive than a lengthy trial process.  It’s a good procedure for fender benders; its’ a good procedure for multi million dollar wrongful death actions or medical treatment disputes.  Mediation is a good process because it allows the parties to keep control of the decisions rather than depend on the mood of  a jury or judge.  When you make this decision, you will more likely be happier with it than taking a chance in court.

The process is absolutely confidential and if it doesn’t work, the judge cannot know why or what had been negotiated. You have nothing to lose and a lot to save. You retain all of your legal rights.

Thank you for your interest.