Mediation is a way to try to settle the case that's become extremely popular because it works. More and more South Carolina injury case are going to mediation. In many counties, including Spartanburg, Cherokee, and Union, the court system requires personal injury cases to be mediated. And South Carolina medical malpractice cases must be mediated before a lawsuit can even be filed. Parties can also agree to mediation.
- What mediation is: Medication is a process, usually taking a day or less depending on the complexity of the case and the severity of the injuries, where the parties hire an experienced lawyer—called a mediator—to help them try to settle a lawsuit. "Mediator" basically means "go-between": the mediator works with both sides to help them move towards settlement. In a South Carolina injury case, a mediator tries to get the victim to take less money and the wrongdoer to offer more until they reach an amount everyone can live with.
Mediation is designed to be cooperative, not confrontational. It is confidential, to encourage the parties to discuss all strengths and weaknesses of both sides of the case to reach the proper evaluation of the case from both sides so they can settle it.
- How mediation works: Mediation usually opens with both parties making a very brief presentation about the most important strengths of their case. Then the parties split up into rooms of their own so the mediator can spend the rest of the time talking to one party at a time, discussing issues with the case, and passing settlement offers between parties. While it's a little bit of a strange process, it really does seem to work in most cases. If the case doesn't settle at mediation, we prepare for trial.
Our Spartanburg Family Lawyers View Mediation As Trial Preparation
Before mediation, we usually present the mediator with a detailed outline of our evaluation of the case, from who you are and what witnesses will say to the holes we can punch in the other side's case, with a summary of all your medical treatment plus all of your medical bills and a thorough evaluation of the extent of your pain and suffering. This allow the mediator to clearly see how a jury would agree with the value of your case, to help him push the other party to properly compensate you in settlement. Having armed him to help us, we report fully prepared to the mediation. If we can't settle it at mediation, we just use the mediation outline as our guide to trying the case.
If you have a personal injury case you think might benefit from mediation, feel free to call us at toll-free at 888-230-1841 for a free meeting to talk about it with us.
