How to get the best result for your client, at the lowest cost

Borrowing from Stephen R. Covey—author of the bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People—please consider the following “seven habits of highly effective litigators.” These “habits” can have a positive impact on the cost and outcomes of cases, and will improve a litigator’s case-load management. After all, the litigator’s job, as a zealous advocate, is to get the best result for her/his client at the lowest cost.

(1) Mediate early in the case. The practice of engaging a mediator at the outset of a dispute remains vastly underutilized, despite the substantial upside and essentially no risk. We know that at least 95 percent of civil cases will settle, often late in the game or on the eve of trial. That’s the time when productive solutions no longer may be available, when your primary objective is to get out of the case without risking a trial. By mediating early, you can:

• Explore and identify means to a favorable settlement before the dispute escalates, positions harden and the case takes on a life of its own. Dispute escalation and entrenchment of positions are the greatest, and most avoidable, causes of excessive cost and barriers to constructive settlement.

• Even without a settlement, productively narrow and focus the dispute on that which is really at stake, such that discovery is more targeted and the parties can revisit the identified settlement options once that stage of discovery is complete.

Read original article


Tags: