LITIGATION presents complicated legal, factual, and emotional issues. It is expensive and disruptive, but also offers significant openings to explore settlement opportunities. This is certainly true of the areas of law in which I practice. Unfortunately, the costs and the emotional issues often dissuade the parties from pursuing settlement, resulting in deadlock from the early stages of the case, and increasing the distrust and animosity. I have represented parties in these difficult cases for 22 years in Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, and Alameda Counties. I have specific mediation training, and I am available to offer mediation services.
MEDIATION is a dispute settlement process where the people who have the dispute reach mutual resolution in a supportive environment with the guidance of of a mediator. A mediator is a neutral third person experienced in conflict resolution and the issues in dispute. A mediator facilitates the identification of the issues and the exploration of opportunities for resolution. The mediator may offer suggestions for resolution, but is not a judge and does not mandate a determination of the issues. In the context of the legal system, mediation works because it is more cost-effective and timely than a trial; it allows the disputants to reach a mutually agreeable resolution and avoid the unpredictability risks inherent in every judge-imposed decision; and it allows the parties to confidentially express a range of concerns and settlement options to the mediator who then works to intersect the respective settlement ranges and achieve resolution. At various times in every dispute there will be opportunities to pursue settlement—the disputants can either mutually work towards an agreeable resolution through mediation, or, ultimately, if no settlement can be reached, a legal resolution will be forced by a judge at a sizeable cost to the estate's legal heirs. Doug has participated in all forms of alternative dispute resolution, including Court reprisal binding and non-binding mediation and settlement conferences on behalf of clients including trustees, conservators, executors, administrators, as well as estate and trust beneficiaries and fiduciaries.