I'm baack

Returned from my all-but-useless business trip. The whole thing was basically a set-up to get me to attend a mediation in person that could easily be done over the telephone, by trying to force a trial date when we all knew dang well they didn't want to go to trial.



Actually, I think it was a tactical error on their part to have me down there. I know the plaintiff's bar pushes the idea of getting the opposition there in person for mediation. My point: I probably would've probably paid more if I hadn't gone. 1) They lost the implicit threat that I'd have to make last-minute arrangements to travel down there for trial once I had made the trip, as it was no longer any big deal to me personally for the trial to go forward. 2) They really annoyed me by dragging my behind down there when I'd already seen the plaintiff and they had no new info to give me. To be fair, they did give me a few new medical reports (surprise, surprise), but it wasn't anything I couldn't have read just as easily in Iowa. They played a few videos that I could've watched on my computer here, and incidentally weren't impressive at all. Between that and the opening statement that took a good forty minutes, they seemed determined to push every button calculated to drive the parties further apart by alienating me.



The rules of the mediation had changed from collegiality to posturing. I know how to play both games, and I'm not one to crumple at being yelled at. I mean, they should see criminal defense work if they think the "tough guy" routine will make any dent on me. I've been threatened with murder by defendants if I didn't make a particular plea deal, and I personally find murder little more inconvenient than a business trip.



In the end, I suppose I annoyed plaintiff's counsel almost as much as they annoyed me by making tighter moves than I would have otherwise. I actually made him get all red in the face, cuss and wave his arms.



The upshot: if their goal was to make it a pain in the behind, they succeeded. If their goal was to maximize settlement value, I believe they lost. I suppose it's all a matter of what you want.



NOTE: this is all a matter of personal opinion, and in no way represents the official opinion of any company, including mine.