MEDIATIONS
WHY YOU SHOULD MEDIATE WITH DAVID PYKE
David Pyke brings vast experience and special skills to serve as a mediator of trust and estate disputes.
- Licensed since 1986 bringing more than 35 years of experience to the negotiating table
- Has tried to final judgment well over 50 trials, more than half of those being jury trials
- Appeared before all the probate judges of Dallas, Tarrant, Ellis, Collin, Denton, and Rockwall counties for the last 22 years.
- Practice experience in both handling disputed estates, estate planning, and estate administration
- Background in accounting, having passed the CPA exam in 1983, allowing him to understand and correctly interpret the financial documents so often key to a trust or estate dispute
- Trained in the Black Swan Method™ developed by Chris Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator.
WHY WE LOVE MEDIATION
The courts in the State of Texas have strongly encouraged mediation since the early 1990’s because they found it to be effective. Disputes resolved earlier in the process have saved countless court hours as well as significant attorney fees that would have been incurred if the cases were not settled earlier. Prior to the adoption of mediation, most cases settled but famously often settled “on the courthouse steps”. The problem with such late settlements is that the cost of preparing for trial had been incurred before the parties often reasonably discussed a resolution of their dispute. So, mediation is favored because it works to avoid unnecessary trial preparations and a waste of the parties’ time and court expenses.
MEDIATION BRINGS CLARITY
When cases do not settle at mediation, that does not mean the mediation is a failure. Cases do not settle when one party is significantly misanalysing their case, either because they lack an understanding of the law or do not take a realistic assessment of the chance that the fact finder will reject their view of the case. Mediation can sometimes eliminate this misanalysis by providing an experienced voice that guides the attorneys to a more careful analysis of their case. But sometimes, parties are not persuaded, and reasonable settlement offers are rejected. In these cases, all parties benefit by knowing what they are fighting for and why they are fighting. When you have never been offered a realistic amount for your claim, you understand that the only way to seek relief is to go to court. That creates a better relationship between the attorney and his client, and it gives the client clarity on why they are pursuing this matter to a conclusion. Therefore, a good mediation is not just one that settles the case, but is one where the parties have negotiated thoroughly, forced to fully exam their positions, and when they find the gap between their positions is vast, they know why they are moving forward.
WHAT WE HATE ABOUT CONVENTIONAL MEDIATIONS
This is the typical schedule of mediation:
- 9:00 – noon: Mediator meets with both parties and they make ridiculous settlement offers.
- Noon – 2:00: The parties make grudging minor concessions.
- 2:00 – 5:00: A rapid series of offers is exchanged and an agreement is reached in principle.
- 5:00 – 7:00: The parties begin drafting settlement documents, with incessant rounds of proofreading until the agreement is signed and the parties finally go home.
“I hate this tremendous waste of time as the mediation slowly begins and then comes to a torturous conclusion because no one has even started drafting settlement documents until a handshake deal is reached,” Mr. Pyke says, so he committed to do mediations differently.
Mr. Pyke schedules a pre-mediation session with each party and their counsel so he understands their positions in advance. On the day of mediation, the parties are ready to get to the real work. Mr. Pyke will have guided the parties so that an initial offer is formulated prior to mediation. Throughout the process, a settlement agreement is being drafted and revised, to avoid the last-minutes stress.
Finally, Mr. Pyke aggressively guides the parties to make realistic offers, coming to grips with the limitations of their positions, and attempt to avoid staking out unrealistic positions.
Mediation is not a rushed process, and must be given the time it deserves, but we have all seen the following behaviors from mediators that are not helpful in the process, including:
- Allowing the parties to talk and talk rehashing the same points over and over
- Just asking for a number without guiding the parties on how to structure their offer
- Acting as little more than a courier exchanging offers between the parties
- Refusing to engage with the parties to question their assumptions and beliefs
- Offering a “mediator settlement sheet” that is wholly inadequate as a settlement agreement and mainly drafted to try to protect the mediator
“I pledge to do mediation differently,” says Mr. Pyke.
SCHEDULING MEDIATIONS
To schedule a mediation, email mediations@dallasprobatelaw.com to be provided available dates for scheduling. For more information, call David Pyke at 214-866-0133.