KBW Alternative Dispute Resolution
Writing

Notes from the middle chair.

Short pieces on preparing for a session, what actually moves a number, and how a mediation day runs. Written for the lawyers who send me cases. If you want a topic covered, tell me.

The Day
September 8, 2026

What I am doing while you wait

The long caucus is not a gap in the work. For counsel, it is most of it.

It is eleven in the morning, I have been in the other room for fifty minutes, and your client has asked you twice whether this is normal. Here is what is actually happening back there, and what I think counsel should do with the time…

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Employment
August 31, 2026

In employment cases, money is rarely the whole deal

The terms nobody pleads are often the ones that close the gap.

Employment matters sit closer to the person than most commercial disputes. On one side is someone who lost a job and usually a professional identity along with it. On the other is a company…

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Preparation
August 24, 2026

Ten pages is plenty

What I actually read before your session, and what I skip.

Position statements have gotten longer every year I have practiced. I understand why. The statement is the one document a mediator reads without opposing counsel arguing over it, so the…

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Fees
August 17, 2026

What a flat fee is actually for

The billing structure changes how the last hour of the day feels.

I charge one number per side for the session. That number covers reading the file, the pre-mediation calls, the day itself, drafting help on the agreement, and the follow-up calls if we do…

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The Room
August 10, 2026

Bring the person who can say yes

Authority problems are the most common reason a good day ends without a signature.

Most sessions that fail do not fail on the merits. They fail because the number that would have closed the case exceeded what somebody in the room was authorized to approve, and the person…

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