EDITOR'S COLUMN
There are schools where attorneys and non-attorneys can go to learn how to be a mediator/arbitrator and growing numbers of attorneys are forming partnerships or legal corporations whose sole business it is to conduct arbitrations and/or mediations. As professionals, legal assistants need to become familiar with this new phenomenon and to learn how our skills can be best utilized in this rapidly growing area.
My firm frequently uses the mediation process as a way to resolve ? of our cases. We have found that crucial to the process is the mediator him or herself. One way that legal assistants can help their firms is by becoming aware of the mediation firms in your area and to know which mediators are the best. Also, mediators usually ask that the parties provide a short statement of their version of the case, to give the mediator some background before the process begins. Legal assistants can frequently be of assistance in preparing the pre-mediation memos.
There are many other ways in which legal assistants can be of use to their firms in the mediation process. Hopefully, the articles in this issue will give you some ideas of ways in which you can become a part of the process.
Arbitration (binding or non-binding) is another animal entirely and is quite often conducted much like a trial to the bench. In fact one of the arbitration sessions I participated in lasted most of one summer and was actually conducted in the courtroom. To the untrained observer, it would have looked very much like a trial.
In other situations, it can look more like a conference (or a deposition), with people setting around a conference table and attorneys questioning witnesses. The difference is that the judge/arbitrator is there and will make a ruling. For legal assistants, it may seem very much like a trial. There may be a trial notebook, demonstrative exhibits, and other evidence issues to consider. Of course, if it is nonbinding, there is always the possibility that you will have to do it over again to a judge, if the parties can't agree to the arbitrator's decision (I am involved in one like that right now). In that case, you just consider the arbitration a trial run and the advantage for the legal assistant is that many of the exhibits have already been prepared.
Whether it is arbitration, medition, or some other form of alternative dispute resolution, we as legal assistants owe it to ourselves and our firms to become familiar with this new way of resolving legal issues and to find out how best we can be utilized in making the process successful. We think the articles in this issue will aid your research.
TEXAS PARALEGAL JOURNAL
Spring 1997
©1997 Legal Assistants Division, State Bar of Texas