Mediations

Have you ever wondered whether a settlement mediation is better than a jury trial of your case in your automobile accident matter? How about in your workers’ compensation claim…does a settlement mediation actually help to get the injured person more money? 

In a recent article in the Fulton County Daily Report dated July 7, 2022, the company who tracks jury verdicts in all of Georgia (and in other states) found that settlement mediation verdicts are growing in dollar amounts at a pace far greater than non-mediated settlements as compared to jury trials. 

One of the tactics is that lawyers for the injured plaintiff cite to jury verdicts of similar cases which drives up the jury verdicts by leading jurors to award numbers as though it were morally wrong to do otherwise. (Page 6) 

A further observation by a seasoned Georgia mediator states: “…insurance companies want to mitigate costs, and juries react on emotion… lawyers would rather have a mediator involved than 12 strangers deciding their case.” 

I still say that a workers’ compensation case is somewhat different and maybe not a sophisticated or complicated. I have heard from excellent sources, especially from some of the best Georgia workers’ compensation mediators, that lawyers who represent the injured worker still do not properly prepare for a settlement mediation which reduced the value of the case. 

I can truthfully say that I prepare a mediation like I am going to trial on the issue. A settlement mediation gives me the opportunity to put the absolute best case in front of not only the insurance lawyer but the mediator as well. My goal is to always be prepared, always be ready to present with the actual evidence. And obtaining evidence is not accomplished overnight or in the few hours before the mediation takes place but weeks and months earlier.  

I represent people injured on the job or in an automobile accident in Suwanee, Georgia. I have many years of experience and enjoy in representing people in their workers’ compensation claim or automobile accident cases. I also represent people in their Social Security Income Disability claims.