TYPES OF MEDIATIONS

Mr. Johnson has mediated cases since the mid-1990s. Out of a deep respect for the privacy of the litigants, he will not discuss details. In general terms, the following are examples of the types of cases he has successfully mediated. You can count on Mr. Johnson to exercise the same discretion and restraint with respect to your personal affairs. 

BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP DISPUTES

A business partnership dispute is like a divorce. There was a honeymoon period when both parties were deeply in love with the prospect of a successful longterm relationship. Each party brought something unique and extraordinary to the the conference room table. Both parties believed that their special relationship would endure till the end of time. It has been said that a man marries a woman thinking she will never change and that a woman marries a man thinking that he eventually will. Both turn out to be equally mistaken. The same is true of business partnerships. 

Mediating partnership disputes can be daunting both for the litigants and the mediator because they are fraught with a great deal of emotional capital. Businessmen do not want to admit that they may have been wrong in their selection of a particular partner. Some may want revenge for the relationship's failure to meet expectations. As with a marital divorce, the children often suffer. The children in a business partnership are your clients.

Mr. Johnson approaches these disputes in a straightforward manner. First, do the parties have any interest in salvaging their relationship? Second, how do we repair the damage already done? Third, how do we go forward and what are the new rules? Fourth, we structure an exit strategy for the future just in case it doesn't work the second time.

DISPUTES WITH COMPETITORS

You may have the misfortune of being locked in a dispute with a competitor. Perhaps there have been violations of antitrust laws or laws against unfair competition, industrial espionage, trademark theft, stealing of trade secrets, hiring away employees who signed non-competition or non-disclosure agreements, or illegal interference with a contractual relationship between your business and a vendor or customer. You have to determine first and foremost whether the resolution of this type of dispute is existential. In other words, will your business survive or come to a complete end depending on the outcome? If it is truly existential, it may not be a matter suitable for mediation. You may be compelled to roll the dice in the courtroom. If it is not existential, with a middle ground somewhere in-between, the challenge in mediation will be to reach that middle ground on terms you can accept and thrive under.

REGULATORY VIOLATIONS

There is no delicate way to say this. We live in an imperfect world. Businessmen sometimes cross regulatory lines, intentionally or not. If your business is caught up in a dispute with third parties where an airing of dirty laundry could be less than optimal for someone's reputation or, worse yet, their civil liberties, it would behoove you to usher your dispute into mediation as soon as possible so that sensitive information can remain confidential. Always remember that gag orders restricting public disclosure of information in the context of litigation is just short of impossible. f your company has done something you don't want to appear on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, then bite the bullet and sit willingly in a private mediation. What happens in mediation stays in mediation.