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 who could approve it was on a plane, in a board meeting, or simply unreachable at 5:15 on a Friday.
Authority is not just a defense-side problem. A plaintiff who has not discussed a realistic range with counsel before the session is functionally without authority too. So is a partner who needs to consult two other partners. So is a claims professional whose reserve was set eighteen months ago on facts that discovery has since changed.
The fix is not complicated. Before we schedule, ask yourself who has to approve the number that would end this case, including a number twenty percent past where you expect to land. That person should be in the room or genuinely available by phone for the entire afternoon, having already seen the file. If a committee has to meet, tell me when we schedule and we will build the day around it or pick a different date.
I ask about this on the pre-mediation call, and I ask again the morning of. It is not a trap. It is the single variable most likely to decide whether everyone goes home with a signed agreement or a follow-up call.