Mediation

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.

By: Stephen P. Lagoy

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.

For more on the Frazetta family dispute, see Allentown, PA Morning Call.

For more information on mediating a family business or estate dispute, contact Stephen Lagoy.

By: Donald C. Turner

When, during the course of litigation, the possibility of mediation arises, clients frequently ask why they should spend the time and money to hire an independent third party to assist them in seeking to resolve a dispute. This is a good question and there are a variety of possible answers, depending on the facts and circumstances of the individual case. In many cases, one of the following reasons is why mediation is worth considering.

The first is time and money. If the mediation is successful, in many cases it will save significant time and money when compared to litigation.

A second reason mediation is worth considering is because it enables the parties to mold the ultimate resolution of the matter. For example, if a defendant is able to pay the amount demanded by the plaintiff but needs time to do it, a mediated settlement agreement, unlike a judgment, can provide for this.

If the dispute involves two parties who have a long history of doing business with each other, mediation offers an alternative to resolve the dispute in a manner which is much more likely than litigation to preserve the relationship and to allow business to continue into the future. This is a third reason to consider mediation.

The last reason is because mediation provides valuable feedback to the client and the lawyer regarding the strength of their case. Knowing what an objective third party thinks about your case, your witnesses and your evidence can be extremely useful in deciding if you should settle. If so, at what amount; and if not, this feedback will help you anticipate issues that are likely to arise at trial.

At the right point in the process, mediation may prove useful and effective.

Please contact Donald C.Turner for more information on mediation.

By: Stephen P. Lagoy

Not surprisingly, the crash of Continental Flight 3407 on its approach to Buffalo, N.Y. on February 12, 2009 has spawned lawsuits by the families of the 45 passengers, four crew members, one off-duty crew member, and one person on the ground, who died in the crash. The lawsuits have been filed against Colgan Air; Pinnacle Airlines; Continental Airlines, the company under whose name Colgan was flying; and Bombardier Aviation Services, maker of the Dash 8 Q400 twin-engine turboprop. Recently, U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny, who recently became the chief federal judge in Buffalo, assigned four local mediators to attempt to resolve the claims of the families of those killed. Mediation has been used extensively in Buffalo’s federal court since October 1995, when 400 lawyers came to the courthouse in hopes of clearing a logjam of 118 civil cases.

For more on the lawsuits the mediators will try to resolve, see http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf

Please contact Stephen P. Lagoy for more information.