Advanced Mediation Training — “Making Money Talk“
Personal Injury and Workers Compensation claims make up the bulk of our state courts’ case load—-and, they have one thing in common that makes them unusual in the world of mediation. They are claims for money between people who are largely strangers to each other.
Traditional mediation theory does little to help us with much of what goes on in the negotiation of injury claims. At some point, the usefulness of risk analysis diminishes as the parties begin to swap settlement proposals consisting solely of amounts of money. So, what do negotiators and mediators do when case analysis runs out? What role can mediators play when the parties have moved beyond analyzing the strength and weaknesses of their case into a seemingly endless process of proposal making?
From our experience in literally thousands of injury-claim mediations, we have identified numerous, predictable, and recurring situations in which the parties to position-based bargaining fall into patterns of behavior that create stumbling blocks to the successful resolution of their negotiations. Some of those patterns are initiated by phrases such as the following:
- “Who goes first?”
- “I’m not going to bid against myself!”
- “Go tell them to give me a realistic number.”
- “I’m out of here.”
- “That offer’s insulting.”
- “Is that really his best number?”
- “I’m not going to dignify that offer with a response.”
- And many, many more.
If these patterns cannot be interrupted, then it is likely the negotiations will stall or fail prematurely.
This Advanced Mediation Training is designed to fill a gap in the theory of mediation process to include the facilitation of position-based bargaining and to provide a set of tools to assist negotiators and mediators in any dispute involving monetary claims. It was the basis of a book authored by Andy Little and published by the ABA called Making Money Talk.
Join us and other mediators who want help in mediating the “used car sale” part of the settlement of insurance claims and other monetary disputes.
Scheduling for this course will be announced shortly. Notify us of your interest and preferred location for the course at 919-967-6611 or schedule@mediationincnc.com.