Trial Attorney - Pre-Trial Settlement

Then the mediator might ask the Defendant's attorney to leave the room and start discussing with the Plaintiff's attorney what the Plaintiff is willing to accept by way of settlement in the case. Of course, the Plaintiff's attorney, although expressing a desire to be completely candid, would never open with his true settlement position.

The mediator might then exclude the Plaintiff's attorney and call the Defendant's attorney in and repeat the same process with the Defendant's attorney. As the mediation process continues, mediators do not disclose to either side what the other sides position is concerning money. Only when the parties are close enough to settlement does the mediator sometimes disclose positions of the parties.

The mediator usually goes back and forth in private conferences with Plaintiff's attorneys and Defendant's attorneys attempting to arrive at a settlement value that both parties can agree upon. As the day proceeds the parties themselves may be brought into these discussions.

If the parties are able to agree upon a settlement figure in the pedestrian accident case, the case is then settled at that time and no further action in necessary. Normally the fee charged by the mediator is split equally between the Plaintiff and Defendant.

MANDATORY SETTLEMENT CONFERENCE
At some point during the case a trial setting conference is held. This conference is attended only by the attorneys and not the parties. A trial date is selected and an estimate of the number of days required for trial is stated. A short time prior to trial, usually several weeks, a mandatory settlement conference is held. All parties and their personal injury attorneys must be present at the trial. (If the Defendant has insurance, the Defendant normally does not appear. Instead, a representative of the insurance company appears with the Defendant's attorney because it is that representative that must authorize the payment of insurance company.) The process of the mandatory settlement process is very similar to that of mediation with two exceptions. The person conducting the mandatory settlement conference is a judge and not some designated mediator. Secondly, mandatory settlement conferences are substantially shorter than mediation. Such conferences normally run forty-five minutes to two hours.
If the case still has not settled by this time, the matter will go to trial.