Can business mediators do more to get complex cases settled? Can they add value earlier in the process? Can they get business mediation back to the efficient alternative it used to be? John DeGroote and the DeGroote Partners team have seen disputes from every angle: as the client, as in-house counsel, as outside counsel, as mediators and, in John’s case, as an arbitrator. They understand and appreciate the dynamics that drive cases to resolution — and how those have changed over the past 25 years.

A better way to mediate: Clients are more focused than ever on reducing costs, risk, and the time it takes to get their deals done. Traditional, more passive approaches to mediation often fail to achieve those goals. With effective preparation, active participation and a customized approach, commercial mediators can help clients, counsel and courts:

• Settle complex cases earlier
• Engage in pre-litigation mediation when appropriate
• Narrow the scope of disputes that won’t settle early
• Clear the court’s docket so those cases that won’t settle can be timely tried

Dallas mediator John DeGroote recently spoke to the Dallas Bar Association’s Bench/Bar Conference, outlining business dispute techniques he used when he was a client — the same techniques that drive his approach as a mediator.