While one pair attempts to settle, the other wants deal undone

As discussed, NFL players and owners today resume talks (pending a ruling from Judge Nelson on the lockout) after being together for longer than nine hours last Thursday in the Minneapolis courtroom chambers of federal Magistrate Judge Arthur J. Boylan. The mediation recessed Friday after more than four hours. The hiatus in talks followed reports that last week's talks were "tough" and included a large amount of "fence-mending" and even "homework" for the participants...

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/14962875/nfl-mediation-talks-set-to-resume-tuesday

On the other hand, the Olympic rowers and would-be Facebook creators, the "Winklevi" are seeking a rehearing en banc to undo their $65 million (now worth $200M) settlement with Facebook, after being told no by a three judge appellate panel in San Francisco...

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/18/winklevoss-twins-ask-for-new-hearing-in-facebook-case/

In either case, there must be some finality to the litigation so the parties can move on! Hopefully, for football fans, continued mediation is successful and for fans of the self-determination process, the prior Facebook settlement agreement is upheld in the absence coercion or fraud.

NFL Players, League giving ADR another try to reach end zone

Mediation resumes in NFL, players dispute

Meeting again to negotiate and sworn to secrecy about specifics of the court-ordered mediation, neither the league nor players provided much insight about where they're at in their dispute over the division of $9 billion in the sports business. As mentioned in my prior post on this case, Judge Nelson is a stickler for settling difficult cases and the court has indicated it wants to continue with everyone talking...

http://bit.ly/ewAspm

Sometimes an apology is all that is needed

Former Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne's federal lawsuit in the Middle District against former Governor of Florida and U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist for use of the hit song "Road to Nowhere" in the 2010 campaign was resolved with a simple You Tube apology. I spoke with attorney for Gov. Crist, Brian Moes last year about the allegations which included copyright infringement. I also spoke with Gov. Crist last month about the importance of early mediation and stressed the impact of the high profile decision makers getting together in the room, without the posturing of lawyers, to settle their differences. This case was also being used to expose a larger practice of artists' intellectual property rights being trampled upon during political campaign season by both inexperienced and veteran advertising organizations in media spending. In the end, a potentially valuable claim went away with a message to would-be violators and a humble apology seen at the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Law12345100

NFL Lockout - Mediation in the spotlight

Though the NFL and the NFLPA agreed to an ultimately failed initial mediation, at least the primary problem of this negotiation, the lack of trust between the two sides, was exposed. George Cohen, a highly experienced federal mediator with a background in sports, apparently found no flexibility in the preliminary search for common ground.

Now, Judge Nelson, a recent Obama appointee, in charge the National Football League players’ lawsuit against the NFL, may use her reported skill in resolving disputes to urge players and owners to settle their emotionally charged conflict over billions in annual revenue. Judge Nelson's decision, whether or not to enjoin the lockout, is going to affect enormously the leverage on either side. She spent ten years as a Magistrate Judge reportedly strongly encouraging parties to settle their disputes over the complaints of eager trial lawyers...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nfl/nfl-lockout-judge-susan-nelson-has-reputation-as-a-master-mediator/2011/03/24/AFrBIJrB_story.html

U.S. Supreme Court will hear Arbitration matter next term

A scam targeting law firms is heading to the high court to determine when businesses waive their right to arbitration in consumer litigation. In the past, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken a liking to arbitration and arbitration cases, often siding with businesses that make binding arbitration part of their contracts in the interest of judicial efficiency. Plaintiff lawyers argue arbitration clauses are unfair to consumers and are just a way for banks to short-circuit class action lawsuits. The case claims Citibank’s actions run contrary to the high court’s prevailing philosophy on arbitration. Oral Argument will be set during court session beginning next fall.

-- Daily Business Review, Miami

Finally, a TV show about a mediator

Fairly Legal debuted last week on USA network. While suffering from some of the same flaws as normal legal television dramas, it was at least humorous and endeavored to show the difficulties one has when dealing with positional bargaining. Of course, the ethical rules are stretched a bit and the profession is portrayed unrealistically in that we are really helpful in clearing dockets, not adverse to the court system (unlike the judge in the show who cuffs the female protagonist in contempt for being late to report her settlement). Nonetheless, bringing attention to alternative dispute resolution is never a bad thing! Here's a link to one review: http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2011/01/20/a_middling_tale_of_a_promising_mediator_in_usas_fairly_legal/

Orlando Foreclosures

In 2010, Orlando continued to rank among the top 10 U.S. metro areas for foreclosures during the first half of the year — outpacing even Miami.

When the Supreme Court of Florida ordered mediation programs to be managed by agencies outside of the court system, the Orange County Bar Association became one of the neutral managers maintain a rotating list of Certified Circuit-Civil Mediators, each of whom has completed extensive additional foreclosure training.

When filing foreclosure actions on owner-occupied or Homestead property and the homeowner elects to participate in the mediation program, both sides are required to attend the mediation, including the lender's representative with full settlement authority (though this is often done on the telephone).

Thus far, I was pleasantly surprised to have been able to successfully explore work-out style resolutions in my assigned cases as Mediator.

What has been your experience to date as a neutral or counsel to a party in this process?