MEDIATION SERVICE
I am available as a mediator and was previously appointed as a mediator in the Foreclosure Mediation Program. My office has been designed to facilitate the mediation process for the benefit of all participants.
I have a background of 25 years as a general attorney in private practice in the Las Vegas valley. While I fully support the sanctity of the jury trial upon which our legal system is founded, in the vast majority of cases there are many reasons why mediation makes more sense than having a trial. The time and cost required to complete a jury trial, for both sides, is one deterrent. The unpredictability and lack of control of the outcome, from both sides’ perspective, is another. Below are some incentives to mediate disputes rather than proceed through the court system.
NEGATIVES OF COURT LITIGATION
TIME AND COST
Seasoned litigators know that 98% of all cases eventually settle. The trouble is that it might take years for a pending case to settle, often just before, during or after trial, during the pendency of an appeal, or even during the post-judgment enforcement phase. Thus, years, maybe decades, may pass before a final resolution.
In addition to legal fees, are costs of experts, document reproduction, and the indirect costs of parties and witnesses leaving work to attend depositions, hearings or interviews with counsel.
DISRUPTION
Litigation causes disruption for the parties, who must assist in discovery, attend depositions and prepare for trial. Knowledge of the pendency of a dispute is distracting. The lack of resolution is be unsettling is irritating and disruptive to each party.
ADVERSE PUBLICITY
Court proceedings are public record, subject to reporting in the press and investigation by competitors, friends, neighbors and others. Information disclosed in court is open to the public forever. In Nevada, orders sealing the record which were once common are now more difficult to obtain based on the Supreme Court Rules for Sealing and Redacting Court Records that went into effect in 2007.
RELATIONSHIP LOSS
Litigation augments adverse postures. No one likes getting sued; and people rarely like the party they sue. Once the die is cast, the parties’ counsel strive to gather facts designed to show the strengths of their side and the weaknesses of the other.
LACK OF CONTROL
Judges applying set rules, and juries applying their own perspectives to those facts permitted into evidence, determine the outcome of cases. This determination might not consider all factors the parties to the litigation value most, and conversely might be driven by systematic concerns of no direct importance to the parties. Moreover, the relief the parties most desire — an apology, a letter of reference, a job, future business, to be understood, a structured settlement — might not be available in court.
BENEFITS OF MEDIATION
Mediation seeks resolutions through a confidential process.
Litigation causes disruption for the parties, who must assist in discovery, attend depositions and prepare for trial. Knowledge of the pendency of a dispute is distracting. The lack of resolution is be unsettling is irritating and disruptive to each party.Court proceedings are public record, subject to reporting in the press and investigation by competitors, friends, neighbors and others. Information disclosed in court is open to the public forever. In Nevada, orders sealing the record which were once common are now more difficult to obtain based on the Supreme Court Rules for Sealing and Redacting Court Records that went into effect in 2007. Litigation augments adverse postures. No one likes getting sued; and people rarely like the party they sue. Once the die is cast, the parties’ counsel strive to gather facts designed to show the strengths of their side and the weaknesses of the other.Judges applying set rules, and juries applying their own perspectives to those facts permitted into evidence, determine the outcome of cases. This determination might not consider all factors the parties to the litigation value most, and conversely might be driven by systematic concerns of no direct importance to the parties. Moreover, the relief the parties most desire — an apology, a letter of reference, a job, future business, to be understood, a structured settlement — might not be available in court.
SPEEDY RESOLUTIONS
Many matters that would be pending for years have been resolved in mediations lasting less than one day.
LESS EXPENSE AND DISRUPTION
The mediation fee is a small fraction of the cost of litigation fees incurred over the life of an average case. The mediation process frees parties and witnesses to work undisturbed by depositions, discovery or trial.
TAILORED RESOLUTIONS
Mediation permits parties to fashion remedies designed to fit the unique needs, values and circumstances of the parties, encouraging “win/win” solutions. Structured payments, letters of recommendation or apology, confidentiality agreements, barter and agreements for future business are just a few of the resolutions available in mediation that parties may not obtain from judgments after trial.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Mediation lets parties keep sensitive matters confined to the bargaining table — not trumpeted abroad. Plus, the confidentiality of the process, and the confidentiality of caucus sessions (where each party may meet privately with the mediator), encourages the parties to explore the contours of their dispute, their strengths and weaknesses, their interests and their options for resolving the dispute — with a candor and depth — that could never emerge in a court context.
ENHANCED COMMUNICATIONS
With the guidance of a professional in dispute resolution, parties are encouraged to communicate in more effective ways. This diffuses tensions and misunderstanding that impede negotiations; and, in permitting freer, clearer expression, helps parties find satisfaction in being heard. Communications skills and insights learned through the mediation process last well beyond the resolution of a single dispute.
IMPROVED RELATIONSHIPS
Employment relationships, ongoing business relationships with trading partners or competitors, family business relationships, or even inter-company insurance relationships may all improve as a result of the collaborative nature of the mediation process.
MY AREAS OF EXPERIENCE
I have experience in the following areas of law :
* Bankruptcy
Both Creditor and Debtor issues
* Business
* Family
Divorce
Custody
Property division
Support issues
* Real Estate
Landlord/Tenant, Evictions
Quiet Title
Boundary Disputes
Title Insurance issues
Foreclosure
Transactional issues
Mechanic Liens
* Professional Malpractice
* Personal Injury
* Trusts and Estates
* Probate issues
I offer my time to successfully resolve other cases ranging in size, industry and complexity. As set forth above, the mediation process is intended to achieve results quicker, more efficiently and more cost effectively than through litigation. I’ve participated in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes including mediation, arbitration, special master hearings, discovery hearings, in addition to completing jury trials, bench trials and evidentiary hearings.
Please call or email me with any questions or to arrange a mediation session.
702-251-0000
ben@benchilds.com
CONTACT FORM https://benchilds.com/Contact_Us.html