Publications

A year ago, on Tuesday, March 17th while serving as a Justice of the Supreme Court, Kings County, I, along with all my colleagues, was the recipient of an alarming email – “all Judges are directed to remain at home until further notice.”

Counsel should make sure the arbitrator candidates have sufficient information about the parties, affiliates, party-representatives, known witnesses, entities that are controlling the claim and the arbitration, but who are not “parties,” the subject matter of the arbitration, and any other information relevant to the arbitrators’ consideration on whether to accept an appointment as an arbitrator or umpire.

In court-annexed mediation, the parties are directed by the court or by court rule to mediation whether they like it or not. Compulsory mediation is not the best way to put the parties in a position to settle, but in many court systems, it is the reality. But guess what? We mediators settle a good percentage of these cases in spite of the compulsory nature of the proceeding.

Jacqueline Silvey, general counsel with NAM discusses the changes she’s seen in alternative dispute resolution over the years, the current state of the industry, and where she sees it going post-pandemic.

Mr. Byrne draws upon his many years of experience as a litigator and neutral and addresses how Mediation should be considered when resolving construction defect disputes as an "alternative route" to expensive and often time consuming litigation.

Our world has forever been changed. We have witnessed an advance in remote technology at an unprecedented pace. Web platforms such as Zoom have supplanted the need to get into a car and drive to a courthouse or a brick-and-mortar facility to conduct proceedings.

The Honorable David B. Saxe (Ret.), discusses the ways that his experience as a judge and a lawyer inform his ability as a neutral; the advantages of alternative dispute resolution versus litigation; and the role of mediation and arbitration during the pandemic and beyond.

The possibility of an eventual arbitration may very well motivate the parties to successfully reach a settlement at the mediation stage. The central advantages of Med-Arb are the certainty of a defined outcome, greater efficiency in terms of time and money, and greater flexibility concerning process and timeline.

Attorneys who have been litigating cases for years are in the best position to judge whether a joint session is worthwhile or not. There is no rule that there must be a joint session at a mediation. A mediator should maintain the flexibility to always work in a way that will best serve the process.

As my teenage children can attest, I am technologically challenged. So, at the onset, my technological aptitude was worrisome. Well, those worries are long gone. As most of us have figured it out, I have learned to share my screens with the other participants in the mediation or arbitration process.