Many reading this will have attended a number of settlement meetings with clients, which are invariably conducted on a “without prejudice” basis and with the purpose of settling the claim. You’ve prepared your client in advance by asking them to think about the implications of not reaching a deal on the day.

BUT   

• What happens if we don’t settle?
• What will it cost to adjudicate, arbitrate or litigate the dispute? 
• What is our  Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement?
• What is our Worst Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement?

These questions are not designed to put your client under pressure. They are designed to make sure that your client enters the negotiations in the right frame of mind, fully prepared and ready to gauge and value the attractiveness of any offers received to settle the dispute with an educated mind.

WELL, you say this is all very well and good -

• But how do you know that your opposite number has done the same level and type of preparation?
• Do you ever suspect that your opposition has neglected to explain the facts of life to his or her client?
• Would you be cynical enough to suggest that there is little interest in settlement because this could mean an Alarming Drop in Revenue to your opposing solicitor or adviser? (Perhaps sometimes you do suspect this to be the case.)

NOW turn the question on its head and ask: “Is it possible that opposing parties attend settlement meetings with clients of your firm wondering if you are guilty of not having prepared and advised your client properly? Well I suppose this has to be a possibility also.

ANOTHER SCENARIO could be where the lawyers both feel that the dispute should, or could, be settled, through mediation, but the parties do not agree and feel that their advisers have lost confidence in the case if mediation is raised.

So what is the ANSWER?

The answer from North West Mediation Solutions is a new service called “Chaired Solutions”.

DETAILS :

• The service is aimed at the joint settlement meeting that would benefit from a neutral chairman.
• NWMS will provide a chairman to oversee the settlement meeting.
• Each of NWMS’ chairmen is a qualified and experienced mediator.
• The parties’ lawyers will give an oral outline of the dispute to the chairman immediately before the meeting.
• Parties buying into this service can therefore expect to be reality tested in private by the chairman,  who will 
•         play “devil’s advocate during the negotiations
•         and who will emphasis the need to prepare a written, binding  settlement agreement when settlement is reached.

COST? Based on our belief that this approach will likely limit the negotiations to two hours, the fee would be £375. + VAT per party plus £150. + VAT per party per hour thereafter in the unlikely event of it extending beyond two hours.

SO is £375.+ VAT per party a good investment ?  Nobody likes to advise a client to incur costs without a return! We say it is.

WHY? Simply because the prospects for settlement, where a neutral chairman is present at a meeting, increase dramatically. 

So, if you want to improve the prospects for success at a settlement meeting, “Chaired Solutions” may be just what you are looking for.