After more than 45 years as a trial attorney, while I can’t necessarily say that I have “seen it all,” I have observed the emotional and financial toll trial takes on the parties. And predicting the outcome of a trial, in most instances, is a gamble.
With upwards of 98% of cases settling before trial, it is clear, however, that mediation works. It works because at mediation the parties control their own fate. At trial, they turn their fate over to six strangers and can only hope for the best.