http://bertramadr.com Personal Injury Mediation and Personal Injury Arbitration from Seattle's foremost personal injury mediator/arbitrator...
http://bertramadr.com Personal Injury Mediation and Personal Injury Arbitration from Seattle's foremost personal injury mediator/arbitrator, Gregg Bertam of Bertam Dispute Resolution, Inc. Gregg has mediated or arbitrated over 2,000 personal injury or wrongful death cases in over 20 years as Seattle's leading Personal Injury Mediator. The Advantage of Personal Injury Mediation: If defendants force personal injury claimants to jury trials, with rare exceptions, injured parties do not fare well. Fortunately for personal injury claimants, mediation and arbitration have evolved as alternatives to trial. The reason? Clogged court calendars and the delay and expense associated with virtually all civil trials. Even insurance companies at times lament the inefficiencies of our civil justice system. As a result in many jurisdictions mediation is mandated prior to trial. This "requirement", although at odds with the essential character of mediation, almost always benefits all parties to a personal injury lawsuit. Claimants and defendants are able to privately decide to settle their dispute upon agreed terms and conditions. What we offer at BDR is an informed, very experienced mediation experience for all parties. We expect the lawyers that we work with to have their clients' best interest uppermost at all times. At the same time, we bring to the table informed experience, preparation, empathy and a level of experience that is very difficult to match. That said, because the parties themselves control the mediation process, we cannot guarantee negotiated outcomes. No one can. Extensive personal experience has shown that mediated settlements almost always exceed trial results measured in economic terms. What can't be measured, of course, is the personal stress for individuals that is avoided by settling before trial. Keep in mind that it is defendants that want juries in personal injury cases. Why? Because most plaintiffs are unable to prove their case to a substantial majority of jurors. We can't guarantee that we can help parties settle every personal injury or other case. However, we do guarantee our best effort. That commitment is absolute. It almost always works. Mediation allows the parties, I think, especially plaintiffs, to have a say in how their case is resolved. It also has the potential of resolving a case much earlier than trial, and much less expensively. Personal injury cases, like any other case, have a cost of production, and often, that cost is not recovered at trial. I've been mediating personal injury cases for many, many years. Each year, I have three of four of these cases that go to jury trials. Rarely, does the plaintiff do better with the jury, financially, than the settlement offer that has been made at, or closely following a mediation. What I do for these and other mediations, is have pre-mediation phone calls with the lawyers in virtually all cases. I learn a lot from these phone calls. And the calls are usually made separately to plaintiff and defendants lawyers. I also read the written submissions very carefully. I want to know, in addition, who's planning to come to the mediation, and has there been a demand made by the plaintiff to the insurance company or self insured corporation or governmental agency involved. Usually, it's one of these three parties that's critical to enabling a financial settlement. And if they're not prepared and informed, the mediation will go nowhere. If the case doesn't settle at mediation, and certainly some do not, I continue to work with the parties by telephone or email. Occasionally, we have second, or even more rarely, third mediations. But more often, the follow up is informal, and usually successful in getting the case resolved. When you need experienced and well prepared Personal Injury Mediation Assistance, give us a call, and let's dicuss your particular case. Bertram Dispute Resolution, Inc. 316 Occidental Avenue South, Suite 500 Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 624-3388 Less
