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This website is authored by Lester Levy, Esq.
a founding member of JAMS.

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  • The Basics of Environmental Mediation
    • What types of Environmental Cases can be mediated?
    • The Benefits of Environmental Mediation
    • The Environmental Mediation Process
    • Insurance Company Involvement
    • The Mediation Outcome
  • Case Studies
    • Case Study 1: Objectivity as Resolution Tool Provided Through A Neutral Expert
    • Case Study 2: Working Together
    • Case Study 3: Swift, Fair and Efficient: Awarding Compensation to Toxic Tort Victims
    • Case Study 4: Sequenced Regulatory and Insurance Negotiations
    • Case Study 5: How Communication Both Causes and Ends Conflict
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You are here: Home / Case Studies / Case Study 1: Objectivity as Resolution Tool Provided Through A Neutral Expert

Case Study 1: Objectivity as Resolution Tool Provided Through A Neutral Expert

environmental mediation case studyOverview: Lawyers are familiar with the use of expert witnesses. Most disputes in litigation involve a procedural phase for the preparation and exchange of expert reports and interrogation of their opinions. We can turn that “battle” practice into a more immediate and rewarding settlement strategy.
This case study describes the use of a neutral environmental expert (consultant) to confidentially opine on specific issues in dispute, whose deciphering opened the door to settlement. The parties agreed on the neutral, retained neutral under the mediator’s supervision, agreed in advance on the information (reports and such) to be provided to the neutral expert for review, agreed on the specific questions the expert was to answer, agreed on the timing and budget for this engagement and, of course, agreed that any opinions delivered would be kept strictly confidential under the mediation privilege.

The take away: The non-binding opinions of an expert the parties trusted and respected on an issue that divided the parties in settlement removed that impediment and facilitated a settlement of the case

  • Case Study 1: Objectivity as Resolution Tool Provided Through A Neutral Expert
  • Case Study 2: Working Together
  • Case Study 3: Swift, Fair and Efficient: Awarding Compensation to Toxic Tort Victims
  • Case Study 4: Sequenced Regulatory and Insurance Negotiations
  • Case Study 5: How Communication Both Causes and Ends Conflict
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About Me

lester-levy

I strongly believe in the value of mediation – said another way, environmental mediation really works. I would go even further: I believe that environmental disputes are perfectly suited to the mediation process – perhaps more so than any other area of legal practice. I have formed these views after mediating environmental cases for more than 20 years, throughout the United States, and having worked with thousands of lawyers, companies, insurance carriers, regulatory agencies and courts. My … Read more

My Latest Posts

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Lester Levy

JAMS- New York
620 Eighth Ave. (NY Times Building)
34th Floor
New York, NY 10018
P (212) 751-2700

JAMS- San Francisco
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Suite 1500
San Francisco, CA 94111
P (415) 982-5267

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