"This tool is a vast improvement over
​anything most attorneys are working with." 

Randall Kiser, Beyond Right & Wrong and How Leading Lawyers Think

WHAT IT DOES

Too many mediations end in failure.  Watch the video on the left for a quick overview of how this software tool and resource package help prevent positional bargaining impasse by more accurately estimating the financial value and risk of a lawsuit. 
The Mediator's Assistant
  • Focuses attention on the components of case value and risk;
  • Helps parties see how the other side might see the case;
  • ​Generates side-by-side comparisons of plaintiff's and defendant's likely perspectives.

HOW IT WORKS

Part One: The Sheldrick Case 

Part Two: The Positional Bargaining Problem

Part Three: See it In Action

FEATURES

Computes Your Estimates 

When you enter values for time, interest, liability, damages, and costs, this tool calculates the actual financial value instantly from each side's perspective.

What-If Scenarios

Change any assumption and see the effect immediately. What if they think the plaintiff has a weak case on liability and you think it's strong? Make that change and see the difference it makes. 

Dual View Assessment

The tool elicits both your view of the case and how you think the other side might see it. This feature is unique among case assessment tools. You'll get surprising insights.  

Settlement Analysis 

Gives you the option to compare settlement proposals with the value/risk of continuing with the litigation to final verdict. 

Walkaway Alternatives

Lets you see all of the options to present to a potential client based on risk assessment, reward possibilities, and opposition decisions.  

SOME BENEFITS

With The Mediator's Assistant mediators can help
​lawyers and their clients get the best possible outcomes.  

Make Wise Choices

Don't go into mediation blind. Use this tool to envision possible outcomes  for wise choices.

Time Value of Money

Delay can be costly. This tool helps you understand the value of settling now compared with continued litigation.

Risks and Rewards

Often we have an incomplete grasp of risks and rewards.  This tool provides greater insight into this aspect of decision making.

THE STORY BEHIND THE MEDIATOR'S ASSISTANT

​Mediator:       Joe, what’s the best verdict you could hope for this case?
Joe:                 If all goes perfectly, the jury would return a verdict of $100,000.
Mediator:       So, what’s your opening demand to the other side?
Joe:                 $150,000.
Mediator:       I thought you just said $100,000 was the highest possible number?
Joe:                 Yes, but I need some room to negotiate.
​
Like Andy Little, who relates this story in Making Money Talk, thousands of mediators know this story all too well.

I call it the positional bargaining problem. When it comes to assessing the financial value of a case, parties often stake out the most extreme values imaginable and then make small concessions, trying to bluff the other side in the hope of walking away with a significant amount of money or, from the defendant’s perspective, pay as little as possible. Sometimes our haggling leads to a negotiated settlement; too often, it leads to positional bargaining impasse. No deal.

Based on Marc Victor’s work with decision trees, I developed a software program using Excel that allowed me to collect estimates on key components of case value/risk and compute the present financial value of a lawsuit from both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s perspectives. I have used this software in my own mediation litigation practice for years.

Other lawyers frequently asked how they could get a tool like the one I was using. One senior litigator once asked whether he could pay me not to show the tool to plaintiffs.

Finally I gave into repeated requests for a copy of the software tool and developed a commercial version.

The Mediator’s Assistant is a slimmed-down version of the more sophisticated Case Value & Risk Analyzer. It’s designed to help mediators solve the positional bargaining problem summarized above.

Litigators can use it on their own to analyze cases quickly both for their own use and for communicating with clients about case values and risks. (I once called this the back-of-the-envelope version of the Case Value & Risk Analyzer.)
​
Whether you use it for analyzing your own cases or as a mediator to help parties understand the present financial value and risk of a lawsuit, The Mediator’s Assistant will help you achieve greater insight into your case and develop strategies for getting the best outcome possible.

Built by a mediator for ​mediators

Michael Palmer has over 25 years of experience in the field and was determined to build a tool that let both parties get the best outcomes possible.  When parties fall into positional bargaining, they often reach sub-optimal results: Neither side does as well as it could. This tool helps generate Pareto-optimal outcomes.  

Reduce the risk of bad outcomes 

With The Mediator's Assistant you can help both sides reduce unnecessary risk and get better outcomes.
By using the package of forms, software tool, and related resources, you can have more satisfied clients and build a more profitable mediation practice.