Here are three tips for getting your mediation case ready to go.

Teddy Snyder

1. Make sure you have gathered all the information you need. That doesn’t mean you have to look under every rock. Most cases turn on fewer than five issues. Make sure you have identified the pivotal issues and secured the information you need to prevail on them.

Surprising information may come out at mediation. The fully prepared negotiator will integrate that information into the litigation plan, not be flustered, and in most instances continue to settlement.

2. Run the numbers realistically. Turn the information you gathered into numbers to present to a finder of fact. Get the help of an economist if you need it. A structured settlement broker can provide the present value of a continuing stream of payments.
 
3. Target your opponent’s weak spot. Every party has numerous reasons why ending this dispute is in their best interest. This may be peripheral to the dispute, such as a claimant's need for immediate cash or a corporate defendant's management of an upcoming structural change. Your job is to persuasively itemize those reasons to get to closure.

Attorney Teddy Snyder mediates workers' compensation cases throughout California. She can be contacted through snydermediations.com.