Welcome to the third installment of the three secrets of mediation. Here’s the last secret:
Always know, coming into mediation, what you think will happen if it were to go to trial. What are your biggest hurdles to trial?
Here are some statistics that will help your clients think things through.
- A recent study showed that 61% of plaintiffs made the wrong decision about settling their case and proceeding with trial.
- About 24% of defendants made the wrong decision.
- In short, only in 15% of the cases did both sides make the right decision to take a case to trial.
While plaintiffs are often more often, it actually costs them, on average, less. When a plaintiff was wrong and went to trial, it usually cost them, on average, $43,000. Defendants were only wrong about a quarter of the time, but when they were wrong, it cost them a lot. $1.1 Million on average.
This was a study of several thousand cases, so it covered a wide gambit of areas. But here’s the takeaway: settling is usually going to be better for you and your clients. Only 15% of the time does it make sense for both sides to take a case to trial. And those are only the cases that actually went to trial. Most other cases settle, as we know, so many times, you need to settle the case.
The few times that you should try a case are few and far between, and when you’re wrong, it’s going to cost you, and more importantly, it’s going to cost your client. So if you are in mediation, and your client is hesitating, or if they think they have a case they can’t lose, ask the mediator for these statistics. We’ll give them to you. And they might help your client with understanding when they could be wrong, or right, and more importantly, what is that risk-reward they are taking by going to trial.
If you have any more questions or are looking for mediation services, then schedule a time to talk with us: https://btmediation.com/global-mediation-services/
We look forward to helping you and your clients make the best decisions in mediation.
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