Mediation is a great tool to resolve estate or real estate matters involving family members. To find out more about mediation call David M. Frees III for more information.
David Frees
David is a partner in the Pennsylvania law firm of Unruh Turner Burke & Frees, PC with offices in West Chester, Malvern, and Phoenixville, PA. For more information on how David M. Frees could assist you as an independent mediator, contact David Frees in our Phoenixville office.
With the future of a $9 billion revenue stream at state, NFL owners and players have turned to mediation for help in finding common ground. Representatives of the two sides met with Mediator George Cohen for 8 hours on March 1 at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington, D.C. After 9 months of infrequent and contentious bargaining sessions, the bargaining teams are now meeting face-to-face in an effort to stave off a player lockout and its dire financial consequences – to players and owners alike. The Collective Bargaining Agreement was scheduled to expire on March 3, but the parties have agreed to extend the agreement to give mediation a chance to work. High stakes indeed — football fans are holding their collective breath! For more on the NFL mediation see the full article here.
Stephen Lagoy
Steve Lagoy is a partner in the Pennsylvania law firm of Unruh Turner Burke & Frees, PC with offices in West Chester, Malvern, and Phoenixville, PA. For more information on how Steve Lagoy could assist you as an independent mediator, contact Steve Lagoy in our West Chester office.
In the face of the rising tide of mortgage foreclosures, mediation programs in three Ohio counties are having very positive results. Foreclosure mediation initiatives in Warren, Greene and Montgomery Counties differ in the processes by which services are provided. However, they are all court-related and they share a common result – successful foreclosure avoidance. The programs focus on initiating and facilitating communication between borrowers and lenders. That factor is pointed to by participants as key to the programs’ successes. To read more about the Ohio experience, see:
Steve Lagoy is a partner in the Pennsylvania law firm of Unruh Turner Burke & Frees, PC with offices in West Chester, Malvern, and Phoenixville, PA. For more information on how Steve Lagoy could assist you as an independent third party foreclosure mediator, contact Steve Lagoy in our West Chester office.
A judge in Bonner County, Idaho has appointed a mediator to attempt to resolve a first-degree murder case. Unbelievable? The judge’s action was in response to a joint motion made by the County Prosecutor and the defendant’s attorney. The mediator will be paid with public funds. The case involves a theft-related shooting death near Coolin, Idaho in January, 2007. The victim died of a .22-caliber gunshot wound to the face. The defendant and his former wife fled the region after the shooting and were tracked to Fort Myers Beach, Fla. They were arrested several months after the slaying and were charged with first-degree murder and grand theft by possession of stolen property. The latter offense stemmed from a $56,000 escrow check that belonged to the victim. The ex-wife has pleaded guilty to second degree murder. If the mediation is not successful, an eight-day trial is anticipated.
Watch attorney Steve Lagoy, a professionally trained mediator, as he explains some of the benefits to business of the mediation process.
Why is mediation helpful? Mediation is both cost efficient and a time saver for all the parties involved in a dispute. With both parties setting the terms of the mediation as opposed to the Court, the disputing parties can determine where and when the mediation will take place. Mediation can also preserve already established business relationships, whereas those relationships are often irreparable when a case is decided in a jury trial.
The Texas Rangers own the longest winning streak in the major leagues this year (eleven) and currently have a healthy lead in the American League’s West Division. Success on the field has not translated to financial bliss, however. The Rangers’ present ownership filed for Bankruptcy in May to complete a sale of the club to a group headed by Rangers’ president and Hall of Fame pitcher, Nolan Ryan. Now, the proposed sale has been postponed by Bankruptcy Judge D. Michael Lynn who has ordered the parties to continue mediation to try to resolve opposition to the proposed sale by creditors who lent $525 million to the present ownership. Given baseball’s July 31 trade deadline, the postponement could impact the Rangers’ ability to acquire players from other teams for an anticipated pennant run.
For more on the role mediation will play in the Rangers’ bankruptcy, see the article from Bloomsberg Business Week.
Watch Steve Lagoy in this short video as he explains why you and your clients should use mediation to settle a legal dispute.
Individuals and corporations should consider using mediation as a way to resolve disputes outside of the courts. In this short video, Attorney Stephen P. Lagoy describes what mediation is and how you can use mediation to solve a dispute without the time and expense of the judicial system.
Steve Lagoy is a partner in the law firm of Unruh Turner Burke & Frees, PC with offices in West Chester, Malvern, and Phoenixville, PA. For more information on how Steve Lagoy could assist you as an independent third party mediator, contact Steve Lagoy in our West Chester office.
One of the advantages of a mediated resolution over a litigated verdict is that the former is more likely to mitigate tensions while building understanding and trust. For parties who desire to preserve a future relationship with their adversary, mediation provides the basis for resolving future disputes and supports an ongoing relationship. Mediation is also much better equipped to deal with underlying interests which on the surface may not appear to be related to the dispute at all but, in fact, are critical to resolution. These attributes of mediation make it particularly suitable for resolving family business and estate disputes. Issues such as sibling rivalry and jealousy (which may never see the light of day in a jury trial) are all part of the mix in a family business or estate mediation.
A good example of mediation at work is the case of Pennsylvania fantasy artist Frank Frazetta. A dispute among his children reached fever pitch in December when Frazetta’s son, Frank Frazetta Jr., was caught using a backhoe to break into the artist’s museum in the Poconos. Police say he tried to remove 90 paintings insured for $20 million. Frazetta Jr. insisted he was attempting to safeguard the art from his scheming siblings. The dispute over the artist’s estate, the value of which is estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars, spawned lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Florida as well as criminal charges against Frank, Jr. The family members submitted the dispute to mediation and recently announced that they had reached a resolution of the dispute and had agreed on a cooperative strategy for the future. This positive result would have been unthinkable had the lawsuits proceeded to trial and verdict.
Mediators are called upon in a variety of contexts – business, family, injury, labor to name a few – to help resolve difficult disputes. The recent death of a 40 year old trainer at SeaWorld has given rise to a unique mediation issue. The family of Dawn Brancheau obtained an injunction from a Florida court prohibiting the release of video footage of Ms. Brancheau’s death after she was pulled into the water by an orca whale in front of a shocked audience at SeaWorld. The Florida court has now ordered mediation to weigh the Brancheau family’s privacy concerns against the public’s right to know under Florida law. For more on the issues the Florida mediator will address, see National News headlines.
If you would like to know more about how mediation can help you resolve business, estate and family disputes while avoiding or minimizing litigation, call mediator Stephen Lagoy.
Facing 131 lawsuits filed by alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse, the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware filed for bankruptcy in October 2009. In a breaking development that signals a desire by both sides to resolve the disputes quickly, the Diocese and abuse victims are reported to have agreed to submit the cases to mediation. Philadelphia lawyer/mediator, Thomas Rutter, has been proposed by the parties to mediate and bankruptcy Judge Christopher S. Sontchi is expected to approve Rutter next week.
For more on the Delaware diocese clergy abuse controversy and how the parties hope to resolve it through mediation see: delwareonline.com article.
If you would like to know more about how mediation can help you resolve business, estate and family disputes while avoiding or minimizing litigation, call mediator Stephen Lagoy.
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