|
In my 12+ years of litigation experience I have successfully represented my clients. However, over the years I have continually thought that there must be a better way for my clients to resolve their legal issues without spending months or years of their lives and a year or two of their salary in litigation. Although I generally "win" when I am involved in litigation, it is because I am reasonable and thus only litigate if the other side is not being reasonable. One must also define what "winning" means. In litigation it means that after a client has spent thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, months to years of their lives embroiled with letters, phone calls, depositions, examinations, and other unpleasant but necessary tasks involved in litigation, then they get to go through a trial. No one walks out of a trial healthier then when then went in. It doesn't matter what a person walks away with after a trial, the litigation has cost that person dearly.
There is a better way of resolving disputes while still protecting one's legal rights. I can assist individuals involved in a dispute mediate their differences even prior to a law suit being filed. If a lawsuit has been filed I can also help the litigants early on in the process before they have spent their resources and wasted much time in litigation. I understand the legal process and the law. I also understand the incredible cost that litigation has on your life.
In addition to the financial and emotional costs of litigation there is the fact that very private matters are discussed in a very open courtroom. Mediation on the other hand is discreet and private. If you do not want your private business open for public viewing then mediation is a great option for resolving a dispute privately and confidentially.
When the people involved in the litigation are part of a family, or have a child in common, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to heal those relationships following drawn out litigation. No relationship has ever been helped with litigation. This is a cost that is very often overlooked by litigants and their attorneys.
I am also a business owner, employer, former wife, mother, and a daughter who took care of her elderly mother. I have intimate knowledge of the same issues that many litigants face and I am in a unique position to offer possible real-world solutions.
In mediation you can focus on what is most important to you. You will have a direction towards reaching a viable, and lasting agreement rather than having a third party tell you what the outcome will be, and just having to live with that result.
I provide mediation services in King County, Pierce County, Thurston County, Mason County, and Lewis County.
Call today to see how we can help you or your client.
You are free to have your day in court, but you need to recognize the immense cost of such. If you are looking for the judge to scold the other party, make the other party do something, or for the judge to tell the other party that they are wrong, you are probably going to be disappointed. Again, most cases settle prior to trial. Even if your case goes to trial there is no guarantee that you will win. Even if you do win, it is unusual for the judge to scold either party or tell a party that he or she is wrong.
This is not to say that you should not be fully informed of all of your legal rights and obligations. Mediation works best when the individuals do understand their rights and obligations. You do not have to litigate in order to obtain the legal advice that you need.
Additionally mediation is generally a far faster way of reaching a resolution. Getting on the civil trial calendar can date months or sometimes years depending upon the jurisdiction. We can have the parties in mediation within a week or two of you calling our office, depending upon all of the individuals schedules.
You may wonder why you should mediate instead of just going to the settlement conference which is free. We can mediate early, months prior to you being able to obtain a settlement conference. Most settlement conferences are only held for one hour. That generally does not give the parties time to think about moving towards an agreement. Settlement conferences do many times result in a settlement, however many of these settlements are reached by a settlement being "highly encouraged" by the settlement conference judge and the parties feeling rushed. There simply is not time to reach a long lasting, well though out, agreement that both parties feel is fair and equitable.
Settlement conferences involving difficult cases are in many cases a waste of resources whereas with enough time in mediation even very difficult cases can be resolved by agreement. | 
