Personal Injury/Other Torts
Mediating serious personal injury and wrongful death cases is a demanding area of practice because of the broad case types and varied fact patterns. For plaintiffs, this area of mediation is often an emotional experience, while defense attorneys and their insurance company counterparts must balance coverage limits, predetermined valuation strategies and the varied issues that make each case unique and complex. When dealing with serious personal injury and wrongful death cases, the Mediator must be adept at guiding multiple parties, lawyers and insurance carriers at the same time.
A good Mediator must have extensive litigation experience, an understanding of the valuations of cases, familiarity with the culture of insurance companies and knowledge of applicable insurance laws. Our Mediators have tried, conducted settlement negotiations and mediated cases in literally thousands of tort cases from medical malpractice and wrongful death to low-impact automobile accident cases.
Most of our Mediators have been litigating and mediating for decades handling personal injury and tort cases in both an attorney role and a Mediator role. All of our Mediators have extensive experience with medical/legal issues, damage assessments, coverage issues, and they understand the socio/legal dynamics at play in negotiations between injured litigants, insurance professionals and their respective attorneys.
Employment Discrimination
Since the O’Malley case in Missouri, much of the practice of employment discrimination has moved from the federal courts to the state courts. This change in the law provided our former Judges the opportunity to conduct jury trials and manage a large inventory of employment cases in a variety of areas. It also gave them the chance to conduct a significant number of settlement negotiations and mediations in this interesting and challenging area of the law.
All of our Mediators have been litigating and mediating employment discrimination cases for decades and all are considered our region’s most accomplished employment discrimination Mediators. Whether your client is an employee or an employer, and whether your dispute involves termination, discrimination, retaliation or harassment, your Mediator will draw on a vast knowledge of employment law and each has conducted hundreds of employment discrimination mediations.
Professional Liability/Medical Malpractice
Professional liability and medical malpractice mediation is demanding, as emotions run high and the issues are complex. The medical malpractice or professional liability Mediator must deal with multiple parties, lawyers and insurance carriers at the same time.
Knowledge of the field, the culture and applicable insurance issues are indispensable. As former Circuit Judges, most of our Mediators have tried, conducted settlement negotiations and mediated cases involving complex medical issues, including medical malpractice and other professional liability cases. Some of our Mediators have even spent much of their careers representing litigants in these medical/legal areas and has also conducted many mediations in this area.
All of our Mediators have mediated cases ranging from large multiparty medical malpractice cases to veterinary medicine cases to workers’ compensation cases. More specific examples include many jury trials and mediations in the area of medical malpractice involving the fields of orthopedics, gastroenterology, urology, oncology, neurology, otolaryngology, pulmonary medicine, cardiology, dermatology, ophthalmology and gerontology.
Commercial/Business Litigation
Commercial and business litigation is a demanding area of the law often requiring the Mediator to deal with multiple parties, lawyers and insurance carriers at the same time.
Indispensable to a successful mediation is a Mediator’s knowledge of business, business cultures, corporate structures and applicable insurances issues. Our Mediators have mediated some of our region’s biggest and most complex cases. These have ranged from large national multiparty cases to shareholder disputes, contractual claims, partnership disputes, class actions and business-to-business claims to small commercial and business cases.
Examples include shareholder disputes involving prominent Kansas City publicly and privately held companies. National cases have involved multinational drug companies, telephone companies, accounting firms and technology companies.
Besides their judicial and mediation experiences in the business and commercial field, all of our Mediators have had extensive personal experience dealing with large businesses. Combined, they have served on local, regional and national boards and businesses, giving them practical business experiences that can help inform their mediation skills in the areas of human resources, building and maintenance, budgeting, technology integration, strategic planning and all other areas common to an executive management position.
Construction
Construction mediation is a balancing act every bit as demanding as working 50 stories high on a scaffold. The construction Mediator must deal with multiple parties, lawyers and insurance carriers simultaneously.
Knowledge of the business, the culture and applicable insurance issues is indispensable. Our Mediators have tried, conducted settlement negotiations and mediated construction-related cases for over 20 years, ranging from large multiparty general contractor/subcontractor cases to small home repair and construction cases.
All of our Mediators have conducted construction mediations related to large highway and road construction cases involving municipalities and MoDot; large commercial construction cases involving downtown high-rises, building projects in the Power and Light District and suburban shopping malls; managing receiverships for properties on the Plaza; and condo conversions downtown and in the River Market.
In addition, they have also mediated cases for various construction trades, including electrical, plumbing, flooring, grading, painting, flat work, roofing, insulation, framing, deck work, structural steel, foundations, mud jacking, geological testing, site prep and more.
Insurance Coverage/Bad Faith
In almost every claim for civil damages in the United States, someone claims that an insurance policy provides coverage. To settle a personal injury or commercial case, it is always critical to determine whether insurance carriers should participate, and if so, to what extent.
When dealing with complex insurance and coverage questions, the Mediator must be adept at guiding multiple parties, lawyers and insurance carriers at the same time. In this field, a good Mediator must possess extensive litigation experience, familiarity with the culture of insurance companies and knowledge of applicable insurance laws.
Unique among mediation firms, the Mediators of JDM have decades of experience as trial judges and/or litigators, which gives them the ability to understand the culture of negotiations where complex insurance questions exist.
Insurance companies and their representatives want guidance from someone who regularly deals with coverage disputes. Litigants on both sides want a Mediator who is able to see these disputes from the perspectives of the insurance company and of the litigants.
Product Liability
Mediating product liability cases is a challenging area of practice because of the wide range of products on the market, the complexities inherent in the products themselves and the national scope of some cases.
Multiple parties, lawyers from other jurisdictions and defense attorneys, along with their insurance company counterparts balancing predetermined corporate valuation strategies make product liability cases even more difficult, with varied issues that make each case unique and complex.
When dealing with serious product liability cases, the Mediator must be adept at guiding multiple parties, lawyers and insurance carriers, while at the same time understanding the corporate culture of the maker, seller or distributor of the product.
To be successful in this area, a Mediator must possess extensive litigation experience, an understanding of the valuations of similar cases, familiarity with or a willingness to learn about the product and knowledge of applicable insurance laws.
As Circuit Judges, litigators and Mediators, our ADR professionals have tried and conducted settlement negotiations and mediated many product liability cases. Most have worked as litigators and Mediators for decades handling these types of complex cases. They each have extensive experience in product liability cases with medical/legal issues and damage assessments, and they understand the socio/legal dynamics at play in negotiations between injured litigants, corporate professionals and their respective attorneys.
With this extensive experience, our Mediators understand the difficulty and expenses plaintiffs incur when prosecuting their claims, and they realize a defendant’s frustrations with having to defend themselves in many different states and jurisdictions and dealing with the expense of multiple jury verdicts or negotiated settlements. The depth and breadth of his litigation experience in this area gives our Mediators the knowledge and skill to mediate even the most complex product liability case.
Real Estate and Condemnation
Real estate and condemnation actions require a Mediator who is experienced in dealing with the demanding issues that these areas present. The real estate Mediator or condemnation commissioner must deal with multiple parties, different landowners, varied municipal zoning laws, title companies, governmental entities and multiple lawyers at the same time. Knowledge of real estate practice, the culture and applicable insurance issues are indispensable.
As former Circuit Judges, litigators and Mediators, the professionals of JDM have tried, conducted settlement negotiations and mediated real estate related cases for over 20 years, ranging from large multiparty real estate disputes to governmental condemnations to smaller residential cases.
Examples of cases handled by our Mediators include large highway and road construction cases involving municipalities and MoDot; real estate disputes on the Plaza, in Independence, Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs and downtown Kansas City; commercial real estate disputes involving downtown high-rises, building projects in the Power and Light District, and suburban shopping malls; condo conversions downtown and in the River Market; simple property line or land use disputes between neighbors in residential areas; and many more.
Environmental Law
Environmental law is a difficult area of practice that involves a complex and interlocking body of statutes, regulations and common law. These laws broadly regulate the interaction of people with the rest of the natural world in order to reduce humanity’s impact on the environment.
This demanding area of the law often requires a Mediator to deal with multiple parties, lawyers, government regulatory and enforcement bodies and insurance carriers at the same time. Indispensable to a successful mediation is a Mediator’s knowledge of, and litigation experience in, environmental law and an understanding of the business culture in this area.
As former Circuit Judges, many of our professionals tried, conducted settlement negotiations and mediated environmental law cases for over 20 years. Combined, they have handled cases ranging from large national multiparty cases, contractual claims, class actions, business-to-business claims, small commercial cases, cases involving the Department of Natural Resources, regulatory matters involving the Environmental Protection Agency, water and soil contamination cases and many others.
Examples include remediation in highway and road construction cases; water contamination in a business-to-business setting; cleanup operations for industrial sites; and air, water and soil pollution in the context of large animal operations.
Health Care Institutions: Hospitals, Providers and Insurers
The health care system in America currently represents over 20% of our Gross National Product. With that much at stake in a relatively unregulated industry, health care institutions and their providers and insurers are a ripe environment for litigation.
Setting aside the classic medical malpractice claims that are usually resolved through standard mediations, a greater exposure today for these institutions in this era of consolidation and government oversight are claims of anti-competitive practices by hospitals, insurers and the federal government.
Similarly, the extent of government oversight of charges for healthcare under the Affordable Care Act, Medicare (CMS reimbursement), Start and other private inurement laws creates litigation between hospital systems, the insurers and the federal government.
The pharmaceutical industry has long been regulated to some extent by the FDA as to approval, use, warning labeling and off-label use. These areas have also seen increased litigation, as well as litigation in the product liability area.
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Disclaimer: This website is not a solicitation for business. All content on the JDM website is intended to provide general information about JDM and an opportunity for interested persons to contact JDM. The content of this website is not offered as legal advice or legal opinion and it should not be relied upon for any specific situation. JDM Mediators, Arbitrators, and Masters are not engaged in the practice of law and no attorney client relationship is intended. This website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a complete description of JDM's services. While JDM endeavors to keep the information updated and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, or reliability of the information contained in this website.