How To Pop The (Mediation) Question – A Mediator's Perspective

You are litigating a case and you want to raise the topic of settlement with the other side. It may be that your client has fatigue from spending money on legal fees and just wants to be done, you don't like the way the litigation is going, or your client has a financial incentive to settle by year-end. You think mediation would be helpful as the parties are very far apart and there are difficult personalities on one side or the other.

You are right to be concerned. Parties and their lawyers are perceptive and will assume you are suggesting mediation because you are desperate to settle. There is never a way to avoid this entirely. Trying to your couch your desire to mediate in an excuse that you "want to see if it is possible to settle before both