The Expert Podcast

Over the years we've been involved with hundreds if not over a thousand different court cases . As a , investigator . insurance agent we've worked with attorneys principle to the case . And one thing that we find about legal cases is that . The result is really like going to the casino You don't really know what's going to happen A court a jury a judge can make decisions that . are unexpected even if you think you have an airtight open a shut case slam dunk . There may be things that come up that make that different . One of the very best pieces of advice that you can get as a plaintiff especially even a defendant . Up until the time the case goes to court . It's the last chance you have Of things being under your control things being in your hands . While you're still working with your attorney During settlement negotiation , mediation arbitration . You still have control over your destiny ? Once that case goes into the court system , all bets are off . Judge can make decisions that make no sense . A jury can come up with a verdict that makes no sense . And once you're in that place , whatever decision the judge jury or court makes is binding on you . You have to take it . For what it's worth . If they say you're liable to pay X amount of dollars you have to pay it . If they say that your claim is thrown out of court , you're done . You get nothing . You have no leverage . So as soon as you go into that court litigation process You don't have any more control your future is outside of your control . So you want to do everything you can . to keep that from happening , even if it has a little bit less of an ideal result for you . Because it always does . Even if you win in court , you have the time that you allocate to it you have the expense of the legal fees , which can crank up very very quickly . Even ask an attorney . Many of our attorney colleagues and friends tell us the same thing . They advise their clients to stay out of court if possible because once you get into that court system , You don't have any more control Even the attorney doesn't have control . The attorney can't force things to happen . You can have depositions you can have discovery interrogatories . And if the court says something you have to do it . That's why mediation is so crucial . It's the last chance you have . To create a result to negotiate a result . To pitch your case . and tell your side of the story Without having it be . Outside of your control you can say yes or no to whatever . Is presented to you at that point . If the court says something to you you can't say no I don't want to do it . You have to do it So good . Mediation experience can help at least paint the picture of what happens . And that's what we do as mediators . We'll tell you what could happen in court . You may not like to hear it , but that's going to be the reality You'd rather hear from us and be able to say no and have an option and have your choice rather than the court says this is what you have to do And you don't have a choice . In fact you may find that in arbitration mediation negotiation . There may be more in common . With your opposing party than you think . But you're never going to find that out from two attorneys talking to each other . because your attorney and the other side's attorney are going to have different points of view . Your attorneys your advocate their attorneys their advocate . You're not going to have you don't have a middle ground . A mediator doesn't take sides . We hear both sides . When you listen to what you have to say we hear you out in full We don't interrupt you We don't stop You We hear what's important to you . We hear what the other side's important to them . We might find that the puzzle pieces fit together perfectly well And nobody really knew it It keeps you from having the court throw the two of you together like , you know , a gladiators in a cage fighting it out and . Even if you when you walk out bloodied , even if it's just financial . Forget the time you spend doing it . We had a case we're familiar with . A couple of years ago where a party to a case . It was over . a $5,000 contract dispute . People couldn't agree on $5,000 over a contract . And both sides believe that it was cut and dry What there they were right ? No . You know No question We're right Cut and dried case black and white . Just no negotiation . Both sides believe that they went to court . Both sides spent over a hundred thousand dollars . In legal fees to get their day in court to go to trial . One of them one The side that one ended up getting their legal fees back The other side have to pay back their legal fees Cause in the contract that said loser pays . So the side that one . Got their $5,000 . They got their legal fees paid back So you might think well they won they succeeded Well they didn't . Because during that year and a half of trial they have to come out pocket all that money to their attorneys . They got the money back but it was like a free loan to the attorney . And then they got the money back from the other side . Plus they have to spend who knows how many hours doing depositions working with their attorney . Going to court two or three times . Just to get back 5,000 now , to be fair the side that one . Tried to get out of this They said look we'll just forget about the 5,000 . We won't fight over it . We'll just go away In fact they even offered to pay . Another 10,000 just to kind of keep out of court So they were being reasonable . But the other side said no we think we're going to win this case . And next thing you know , It was a disaster for everybody In fact the side that lost . The owner of the company had to take out a home equity loan to pay . The legal fees Again , The thing to remember is mediation is your last chance to have things in your control Take advantage of it At least try it . Get hurt . That was a few hundred bucks maybe . It's less than an hour maybe a half an hour of your attorney's fees in that time investment I might be the best thing that ever happened And you won't even know what kind of disaster you avoided , but it could be pretty big ask any attorney . Even if it's not your attorney what they think about you going to court ? And they're going to say don't do it And you might think well , an attorney wants to go to court That's what they do They bill me hours . They don't want to bill you hours to go to court They'd rather bill you hours to settle it to negotiate it . Maybe the settle that you have to do some discovery motions or get some depositions or get some documentation to see where everybody stands . But even attorneys don't want to go to court It's not good for them It's not good for you Ask anybody .