MEDIATION

Why mediate?
There are at least three good reasons to consider mediation rather than going to trial.
First, if the parties to a dispute are working on getting to an agreement instead of
arming for a court fight, it’s a lot less stressful on both parties (and their families or
coworkers, depending on what kind of case it is).

Second, if the parties can get to an agreement instead of going through all the
preparations for a trial, it’s almost always less financially expensive than “going to war.”

Third, going to trial surrenders all decision-making to a judge or jury, and the law gives
courts much more limited options for crafting a solution that’s the best for everybody.
Imagine the issues in a case as a block of wood sitting between the parties. Those
parties want to shape that block into something they both can live with, and they have
every tool in the woodshop at their disposal: saws, routers, chisels, drills, sandpaper…you get the picture.

The finished product of a successful mediation may not
look like a work of art to anyone else, but it’s something the parties can accept and, at
best, even be happy with. If mediation fails and the court has to make all the decisions,
all the law gives the court is an axe, so things are going to get whacked in two, and the
result may be something neither party likes (and it costs more).

Its important to know that if an agreement is reached in mediation, it is immediately
written down as a Mediated Settlement Agreement that is filed with the court that same
day and is irrevocable.

Why now?
The right time to mediate is, simply, as soon as both parties have enough information to
make an informed agreement, before the disagreement between them has grown any
further; the more people anticipate opposition and conflict, the less inclined they are to
agree to compromises. When parties can come to a mediation with the three reasons
for being there in mind, and with a willingness to consider that there may be more ways
to resolve the issue than they have considered, even high-conflict cases can be
resolved in ways that not only deal with the current crisis but make any future
interactions less hostile rather than more so.

Why us?
Brad Johnson, our certified mediator, has worked in the law since 1998, and has been a
licensed attorney since 2008, practicing primarily family law. He has experience with the
courts and judges in Rockwall, Kaufman, Dallas, Collin, Hunt, Van Zandt, Ellis, and
Denton Counties, and has a reputation with all those courts as a calm, reasonable, well-
informed advisor and attorney. He has participated in many mediations since 2008,
nearly all of which have resulted in a final agreement rather than a court battle. As a
mediator, his role is not to give legal advice or judge, but to encourage both sides to

work toward a final agreement that allows everyone to move on instead of remaining
mired in a battle.