Mediation Philosophy

Mike has a strong belief in convincing the parties that the mediation experience is not one of "competition" in attempting to work out a reasonable solution and avoiding costs of further litigation. While aware that some cases cannot be successfully mediated, I am extremely persistent and will attempt to facilitate a solution until all reasonable avenues have been explored. I have had success in mediation as a party advocate and mediator and firmly believe the process can work if both sides are in relatively good faith in approaching the process.

Experience as a Mediator

Mike has served as mediator in over 75 Mediations involving: commercial litigation, professional liability (malpractice) matters involving attorneys, accountants and insurance brokers, sports arena leasing, payment for architecture plans on large scale commercial development and issues regarding search firm representation and merger of the parties involved in the initial search, Healthcare Billing Disputes between hospital networks and medical insurance providers Accounting malpractice claims including business valuation, public offering issues and audits.

Also served as mediator in numerous legal malpractice matters including contract drafting, representation on pension and retirement rights, effects upon partnership dissolutions, personal injury claims as well as trusts and estates issues.

Mediator

Mike has handled over 75 cases as a mediator in multiple fields, including:

Commercial contract disputes and litigation;

Legal malpractice claims ranging from personal injury representation to SEC and RICO matters;

Estate disputes over property rights, including high-profile artwork issues including litigation over the artwork of Yoko Ono;

Health Care disputes in multiple areas, including billing to hospital networks, medical necessity issues, indemnity issues, and ERISA matters;

Personal injury claims ranging in value from $25,000 to $5 million;

A dispute over payment for architecture plans on a large-scale commercial development;

Issues regarding search firm representation and merger of parties involved in the initial search with more than $40 million in quantum meruit sought;

An action for dissolution of a well-known New York City bar/restaurant, involving a trademark ownership dispute between the owner and a celebrity bartender;

Insurance broker [1] partnership issues and errors and omissions claims;

Accounting malpractice issues including the performance of an Audit for renewal of a $50 million Banking Line of Credit for a manufacturer;

Disputes over insurance coverage, including Business Interruption Claims (BI) resulting from "Superstorm" Sandy.

Summary:

"I have a strong belief that the mediation process is an excellent procedure for parties to attempt to work out reasonable solutions and avoid the costs of litigation. I have had great success in mediation as a party advocate and mediator, and firmly believe the process can work when both sides approach it in relatively good faith.

Quite simply, I believe there are two basic rules in mediation:

Rule 1: Never give up.
Rule 2: See No. 1."