Publications

Oftentimes, parties come to a Mediation session completely focused on "big picture" issues - their leading claims and defenses and the consequent damages they are seeking to advance or refute. Great time and labor is then invested in the ensuing debate and negotiations relative to these issues. Indeed, significant progress m...

THE NUTS AND BOLTS THAT MAKE A PROVISION WORK By: Hon. John P. DiBlasi, J.S.C. (Ret.) & Jacqueline I. Silvey, Esq., NAM General Counsel /wp-content/uploads/2016/09/diblasi.png When parties enter into a commercial contract that contains an arbitration provision, they are usually in the honeymoon stage of the business rela...

In the majority of cases, the parties to mediation ask the neutral for an evaluation of their case. This will encompass an analysis, inter alia, of the factual allegations, defenses, and issues of law, motion practice/decisions, venue/jury pool, and an evaluation with respect to jury verdict potential. The mediator will be m...

As any practitioner who has represented a plaintiff in a lawsuit knows, nothing is more frustrating than spending a day at Mediation where the Mediator is consumed with issues among and between the defendants. Adding insult to injury, the Mediator is then ultimately unable to bring anything forth to the plaintiff by day's en...

Under the best of circumstances, mediation may not result in the resolution of a litigated dispute. This may be as a result of factors which are not under the control of the parties. However, mediations are often negatively affected by basic mistakes involving factors that are within the parties' control. While many of the f...

In September, 2013 changes were made to the Rules of the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court (Section 202.70). These changes most importantly were to Rule 8 - Meet and Confer and Rule 13 - Expanded Expert Witness Discovery. Rule 8(b) specifically targets Electronically Stored Information (ESI) and the discovery of sa...

Most trial lawyers and insurance company adjusters are "old pros" when it comes to mediating a personal injury case. But, if old dogs can learn something new, then re-thinking the mediation of personal injury cases may prove helpful. Let's assume the following fact pattern: A worker was injured in a fall while descendi...

Many health insurance plan agreements contain language in which the patient agrees, by virtue of their participation in the plan, that any medical malpractice claim will be heard by an arbitrator rather than in court by a jury. In other instances, medical providers and facilities have arbitration clauses contained in the pap...

The parties to a medical malpractice mediation can assist the neutral in helping them achieve a resolution of the claim in issue by presenting their respective positions in a clear and concise manner which helps to identify and limit complex medical issues. Traditionally, the parties to such a mediation have provided the neu...

1. Always submit a brief. 2. Use the brief to educate the mediator and your adversary as to your position in advance of the mediation. 3. Use the brief to maximize your use of time and to avoid lengthy arguments during the joint session. 4. Always exchange the brief with your adversary. 5. Exclude from the brief any ...