Read more below about:
- Mediation: What It Is
- Our Firm’s Employment Mediation Process
- Our Fee, Which Is Value-Based
- Contact Us for Mediation
- FAQs
Mediation: What It Is
Mediation is a settlement-conference process that helps parties resolve legal disputes. Often, mediation helps both parties reach faster and better economic results than they would achieve by completing litigation. Most cases that are mediated are successful in reaching a settlement.
Mediation is confidential, and the mediator will not disclose information from the mediation unless the parties consent. Information from the mediation cannot be used as evidence in the legal dispute.
The decision to attend mediation is usually voluntary, although on occasion a legal authority may require mediation take place. But even if parties’ attendance at mediation is required, their decisions whether or not to settle (and at what terms) are voluntary.
Some government agencies provide mediation for employment disputes. Often, these mediation services can be effective. However,there are limitations with government-conducted mediation, including limitations in availability, timing, choice of mediator, and flexibility.
If you can’t get effective employment mediation when you want, by who you want, then time and costs of litigation can grow.
Mediation Process of Our Firm and Attorney Michael Brown
Peterson, Berk & Cross and its employment mediator, Attorney Michael Brown, provide effective and flexible mediation services to persons located anywhere in Wisconsin. (Please note Attorney Brown does not provide legal advice or representation to either party, as his role is to be an independent facilitator of settlement).
Attorney Brown takes a mediation approach that is respectful of employment litigants’ feelings, but also makes clear the numerical risks and costs that could arise in the case. Risks and costs arise regardless of emotions, or how strongly the parties feel they are “right.”
The mediation process includes the following:
- First, you need to contact the other party and see if they will agree to attend mediation.
- Here is a sample letter for contacting the opposing party about mediation.
- If you contact the other party, stick to issues relating to arranging mediation. Do not discuss the substance of the case, e.g. your view of the facts, why you think you should win, etc. Later, during the mediation process, the parties will have an opportunity to discuss their views of facts, laws, chances of success, etc.
- If the other party agrees to mediation, you can contact Peterson, Berk & Cross to arrange mediation services.
- Before mediation, Attorney Brown provides Questionnaires for the parties to complete and send to our firm before mediation.
- The parties can also submit, at their option, mediation statements and exhibits they feel may be helpful. The parties can ask that certain information be kept in confidence and not be disclosed to the other party.
- Attorney Brown evaluates in detail the information submitted by the parties.
- A report is provided to the parties before mediation, indicating each party’s best-case and worst-case scenarios. (This does not evaluate the case or assess who is likelier to win; rather, the report states how the law may treat a party if it won or lost).
- A mediation session lasting up to eight hours, located at any Wisconsin location the parties agree on. Our law firm offices in Oshkosh, Appleton and Green Bay are available. Attorney Brown may be able to secure locations in areas of Milwaukee, Madison or elsewhere, upon advance notice that you need an office space in a given area.
- At the mediation session, Attorney Brown facilitates a procedure where he acts as an intermediary between the parties, and helps them exchange information and settlement offers. He uses his knowledge of the employment law system to give each of the parties feedback on the potential strengths and risks of their case.
- Template settlement agreement and forms (e.g. complaint withdrawal form) are provided for the parties to use and complete, if applicable.
Our Value-Based Fees for Employment Mediation Services
Our fee for employment mediation services is a flat fee of $1,950. This flat fee provides value in several ways. First, the flat fee gives you certainty what the cost is. The fee includes all mediation services, and does not increase based on hours spent, travel mileage, etc., which are all included in the fee. Second, the flat fee is less than market-rate mediation costs charged by many other employment dispute mediators. It is common for mediators of employment disputes to charge an hourly rate, ranging from about $150 to $500 per hour, and their total fees can accrue to $2,500 to $5,000 or more, depending on time, travel, etc.
You and the other party could agree to split the flat fee 50/50, or that one party will pay the full fee, or another arrangement you agree to.
Contact Us About Employment Law Mediation Services
If you wish to arrange employment mediation services, or learn more information, please contact Employee Rights assistant Karrie Minor at 920-831-0300 or kminor@pbclaw.com.
FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions and answers:
- What is Mediation?
- How Long Does Mediation Take?
- The Other Party Seems Difficult to Deal With– Can Mediation Really Help The Parties Settle?
- Are There Any Risks Associated With Mediation?
- What Distinguishes Your Firm’s Employment Mediation Services from Others Out There?
- I Want to Settle, But the Other Side Doesn’t– Can I Make Them Attend Mediation?
- I Notice Employment Mediators Whose Legal Practices (Work As Attorneys, Not Mediators)Focus on One Side, Either the Employer’s or Employee’s– Does this Make Them Biased Toward One Side in Mediation?
Mediation is a settlement-conference process that helps parties resolve legal disputes. Often, mediation helps both parties reach faster and better results (including economic results) than they would achieve by completing litigation.
The decision to attend mediation is usually voluntary, although on occasion a legal authority will require mediation take place. But even if parties’ attendance at mediation is required, their decisions whether or not to settle, and at what terms, are voluntary.
Click here for information about Our Firm’s Employment Mediation Process.
Most mediation sessions (the actual in-person settlement conference) will take between 2-8 hours, depending on the case’s complexity, the parties’ level of preparation beforehand, the parties’ feelings, and other factors.
Before the mediation session occurs, our firm has a preparatory process we recommend. This can take the parties several hours of work. However, preparatory time is well-spent, as it helps the parties attend mediation with a good handle on the facts and laws, and potential risks and benefits.
If settlement is reached at mediation, the parties may take a fair amount of time to complete and execute a written settlement agreement. But this wrap-up work is usually fast and simple as compared to the (longer) work in preparing for mediation and negotiating major terms of settlement.
The Other Party Seems Difficult to Deal With– Can Mediation Really Help The Parties Settle?
Yes. Most cases that are mediated reach settlement, including many cases where one or both parties regarded their opponent as “difficult.” A big advantage of the mediation process is it puts an independent person (the mediator) in the “middle.” This intermediary role often helps the parties communicate more positively and effectively, and move from negative emotions toward a shared goal of resolving their differences. There are no guarantees a settlement will happen, but it is far more likely a “difficult” party will settle with you during mediation, than settle with you via other types of resolution attempts (some of which you may have already tried, without luck).
Are There Any Risks Associated With Mediation?
There are few risks associated with mediation, and those risks are far smaller than the risks associated with prolonged litigation. One risk of mediation is of course if the parties pay money for a mediator and do not settle, thus losing that money spent. However, this is not a huge risk, in light of the facts that most cases that are mediated will settle, and that the amount of money spent on mediation is small compared to costs often associated with prolonged litigation (i.e. long-term costs of attorneys fees, court fees, deposition fees, and other legal costs).
Outside of cost, there are few risks with mediation, given that there are no binding legal decisions at mediation (i.e. there is no judge or legal authority at mediation and no one can win or lose their case at mediation), it is a voluntary process (no one can force you to settle), and the issues discussed are confidential and cannot be used as evidence against you.
What Distinguishes Your Firm’s Employment Mediation Services from Others Out There?
There are plenty of effective mediators out there, including (in some cases/circumstances) government-arranged mediators who are provided for free to the parties. You should explore whatever options you have that seem reasonable.
Several factors distinguish Peterson, Berk & Cross and Attorney Michael Brown as compared to other mediators. First, we provide value and certainty in our employment mediation services. We provide (as described above) a flat-fee arrangement, and a defined and objective mediation process, that we feel provide structure, certainty and comfort to mediation participants. If you retain us, you know exactly what our process involves, and what it costs. Attorney Brown has experience with a wide range of employment disputes, ranging from pre-litigation advice and negotiations, to administrative employment hearings, to trial and appellate court work. In his experience, Attorney Brown has worked to achieve settlements in difficult and diverse circumstances. Attorney Brown has received positive feedback, from employees and employers, for his approach to resolving matters. He is thorough and methodical with the facts and law, yet also reasonable, personable and creative in trying to reach resolutions to employment disputes.
I Want to Settle, But the Other Side Doesn’t– Can I Make Them Attend Mediation?
No. Mediation is a voluntary and optional process, so the best you can do is ask. If the other party says no, politely accept the refusal, and see if further opportunities to mediate or settle your matter arise down the road. In some circumstances, a legal authority (e.g. a judge) can require that parties engage in mediation. But that is not the usual way mediation arises, and is not in your direct control.
I Notice Employment Mediators Whose Legal Practices (Work As Attorneys, Not Mediators) Focus on One Side, Either the Employer’s or Employee’s– Does this Make Them Biased Toward One Side in Mediation?
No. A mediator’s role requires he or she be independent. Mediators whose legal work (e.g. court work for clients) involves employee-rights or employer-rights litigation have similar experience in terms of routinely assessing employment cases, and having to try to work out resolutions. For example, Attorney Brown’s legal practice (i.e. his representation of legal clients, as opposed to mediation) focuses on employee representation, yet at times he has used mediators who usually represent corporate/employer-side clients in their legal practices. He never found those mediators to have any bias based on the “type” of legal client they represent. The most pertinent factors were those mediators’ experience in assessing and settling cases, their knowledge of the legal system, and their ability to facilitate agreement between two parties whose dispute is independent to the mediator.
