ADR Continuing Legal Education in Kansas and Missouri

Taking Dispute Resolution to the Next Level: A Litigator’s/Mediator’s Guide to Expanding Settlement Opportunities offers  6.5 hours of CLE credit, including 1.0 hour of Ethics in Kansas & Missouri, Friday, November 9, 2018, at the Robert L. Gernon Law Center, Topeka.

The schedule:

8:30 a.m.         Check-In & Registration

9:00 a.m.        The Intersection of Insurance and Successful Settlement
                        Robert Sullivan, Attorney at Law, Overland Park
                        John Cusick, Barnes Law Firm LLC, Kansas City, MO
                        Mark Meyer, American Family Insurance Co., Lee's Summit, MO
                        Jeff Cox, Cox Law Office LLC, Raymore, MO

9:50 a.m.         Family Law: Shared Parenting Plans Under the New Tax Code; Drafting Property Settlement Agreement Provisions 
                        Dealing with Retirement Assets
                        Aline Barrett, Kansas Mediation Concepts, Topeka
                        Adina F. Morse, Curtis G. Barnhill PA, Lawrence
                        

10:40 a.m.       Break

10:55 a.m.       Employment Law Settlement Agreements: Covering All of the Bases
                        Jon E. Newman, Hite Fanning & Honeyman LLP, Wichita
                  

11:45 a.m.       Lunch (provided)

12:30 p.m.      Probate ADR Opportunities and Issues
                        Cathleen A. Gulledge, Law Office of Cathleen Gulledge LLC, Wichita
                         
1:20 p.m.        Healthcare ADR Issues and Opportunities
                        Frankie J. Forbes, Forbes Law Group LLC, Overland Park
                        Brian J. Niceswanger, Evans & Dixon LLC, Overland Park
                        Randy J. Troutt, Hite Fanning & Honeyman LLP, Wichita

2:10 p.m.        Break

2:25 p.m.        Swimming with the Sharks: Negotiation Ethics for Guppies
                        Larry R. Rute, Associate in Dispute Resolution LLC, Topeka
                        

3:15 p.m.        Adjourned

Mediation Advocacy

These tips on mediation advocacy are aimed at plaintiffs' lawyers but are widely transferable.

Examples: "Don’t reveal your bottom figure too soon, even to the mediator."

"Be patient. Most large cases do not settle quickly. It may take more than one session."

Your client's "anger will create an impediment to settlement. In addition, your client may not understand why her lawyer is candidly admitting weaknesses."

These tips for lawyers representing clients in mediation are by Roger Booth via Donna Cole.

Court Orders Party to Pay Due to its (Bad Faith?) Participation in Mediation

If a party required to participate in mediation does not do so in a way the court approves, can the court order that party to pay?  This question raises several big issues.  First, what source of law or agreement required the party to participate in mediation?  Did that legal requirement specify what exactly the party must do in mediation? E.g., just show up? Participate constructively?  Make generous offers?  Then if that party allegedly breaches that duty (according to the mediator or opposing party) will the confidentiality of mediation prevent that allegation from reaching the judge?   And if the judge does hear that allegation and concludes it has merit, what remedy will the court order?

These important and interesting issues are posed by a recent Ontario case in which a court ordered a party (an insurer) to pay due to its "sham" participation in mediation.  An excellent analysis by Canadian mediator Rick Weiler is here.  Mr. Weiler writes "Mediation is all about party self-determination. If an insurer, compelled to attend mediation, has decided for whatever reason that it doesn’t wish to settle the case (at least at the numbers being demanded by the plaintiff) should its conduct at the mediation attract cost sanctions? I think not."