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032 What Are Arbitration and Mediation in a Personal Injury Case?

032 What Are Arbitration and Mediation in a Personal Injury Case?

Lawyers in the House with Montlick

Attorneys in Podcast: Catherine Powell, Esq.

Arbitration? Mediation? What’s what? Montlick attorney and licensed mediator Cate Powell talks you through the benefits and challenges of each, and how these methods can resolve a case before it goes to trial.

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The purpose of this show is to provide general information about the law. Our guests will not provide any individualized legal advice. If you have a personal situation and need legal advice, contact us for your free legal consultation with a Montlick attorney.

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00:05	ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Lawyers in the House. With Montlick. Wish you had a lawyer in the family? Now you do. Here’s your host. Veronica Waters. VERONICA: Hey, welcome to Lawyers in the House with Montlick, I’m your host, Veronica Waters, thanks for joining us for another very special episode. Got something a little bit different for you today.
00:29	VERONICA: And I’ll tell you about that in just a second. First of all, I want to rewind you to a few weeks ago when we did an episode talking about common legal terms. Definitions that you may have heard thrown around from time to time, but we had some lawyers in here to kind of walk us through some of the main ones and give us a little bit of education. So, some of the education we got that day was about something called mediation. And instead of, like, explaining everything to everybody, that launched a whole lot of questions.
00:59	VERONICA: So, our guest today is talking about the topic of mediation and it’s a very special guest because she’s seen mediation from both sides of the legal table. CATE: Of the table, that’s right. VERONICA: This is Cate Powell, everybody. Say hi to Cate Powell from Montlick Injury Attorneys. Cate has been an attorney since 2015, but just joined the hallowed hallways of Montlick Injury Attorneys in 2022. You had been working as a co-counsel with Montlick for many years before that.
01:30	VERONICA: And then I think they liked you so much, they kind of lured you away. Is that right? CATE: Oh yeah. I’m so happy to be with Montlick. VERONICA: Tell me a little bit about your career and how it fits so well into what we’re talking about today. Because you know you’ve not always been an attorney. CATE: That’s right. Yep. So, a couple of interesting facts about me and kind of what led me to mediation. I was a religious studies major in undergrad.
01:58	CATE: And then I got a rotary scholarship, and I studied… so the Rotary Club paid for me to study in India for a year. And I studied conflict resolution in India. And so, I’ve been super passionate through nonprofit work through the Rotary scholarship about conflict resolution. And then right before going to law school at Georgia State, I worked at the Center for Ethics at Emory University. And one of the professors from Georgia State came over to give a lecture.
02:26	CATE: And she was talking about mediation, torts- which is the class you take that kind of teaches about personal injury cases. And then she was using some of these techniques that kind of blew my mind. She was using improvisation, improvisational comedy even. VERONICA: Like “yes and”? CATE: Yes, and – yes, okay, so we’re there. We’re on the same page. And her lecture blew my mind.
02:52	CATE: And I thought, okay, so if all of this is possible, and this is exactly what I want to do with conflict resolution, I’m going to go to law school and I’m going to become a mediator as well. And so that professor Charity Scott, I will give her a shout out. She ended up being my mentor. I worked for her throughout law school. We still hang out, send each other Christmas cards, but she taught me so much. So that’s kind of how I came into even wanting to go to law school and then practice law and practice as a mediator.
03:23	VERONICA: It is such an organic path and I just love that this organic path actually led you to something that you really, really love to do. And apparently are super good at doing. What is it that you think makes you such a good mediator? Conflict resolution on any level. I mean, I would imagine, as a mom, you’re, like, shoving kids apart from time to time. Like, hey. CATE: Oh yeah. VERONICA: To your corners. You were a mediator before you became a mom.
03:53	CATE: That’s right. Yep. And yeah, the skills used in mediation can be used in any part of life. So that’s such a good point about family issues and that kind of thing. And I think it’s always been in me almost like at a spiritual level of kind of the idea of conflict resolution is that everybody comes to the table, which is what literally happens in a mediation… is that all sides come to a table with the purpose of resolving the conflict.
04:22	CATE: In whatever that would take, and the mediator serves as a facilitator and kind of creating a space, a safe space for that to happen. So, there’s all kinds of conflicts that we deal with on a daily basis. Small conflicts, bigger conflicts where you need to bring in a lawyer- involve the court system. And then even international conflicts. So, all of these things I have been interested in throughout my life. And so, I feel like mediation just plays exactly to that passion.
04:54	VERONICA: What an amazing story and sort of cool little bubble that your life has found itself in here. And now we’re here on Lawyers in the House talking about mediation. Like I said, there were so many questions that came up after that show. So, we thought, why not dedicate a full hour to it? So, thanks for being back with us in the house Ms. Cate Powell. CATE: I love talking to you and I love being here. VERONICA: I love being here with you. You’re so amazing. So, lawsuits by nature are adversarial, right?
05:24	VERONICA: No secret to that. You got two sides. They’re like boxers, right? Everybody’s kind of duking it out. Everybody wants to come out the winner. Each side looking for the victory. And then maybe sometimes these adversarial things need some third party, some neutral third party to step in, like a boxer in the… Boxers have the ref in the ring, right? CATE: Absolutely. VERONICA: To break up the clench where everybody just seems stuck and nothing’s happening. Is that a really good way to start sort of defining what mediation actually is?
05:56	CATE: That is absolutely a good way to start talking about it. And yeah, and oftentimes people call a trial is the battlefield. And preparing for war. And so, a mediation is almost like you in peace talks before the war breaks out. And so just in terms of kind of the process of what would lead a case to mediation is, you know… you file the lawsuit, you serve the papers on the defendant, they have 30 days to respond. Once they answer it starts a period called discovery, which is the evidence building phase of the case.
06:32	VERONICA: Everybody discovers what the other side has. CATE: Absolutely. Yep. And that’s when you do depositions. That’s when you depose witnesses, you get medical records and bills, you get all the documents you need. And then you get to the end of that 6-month period. And then a lot of courts… and again, every court across Georgia does it differently. Every judge does it differently. So, the timeline is different on each case.
06:58	VERONICA: So not only if it’s different from judge to judge just in Georgia, then from state to state when you guys have cases in other states, totally different wrinkles. CATE: Yes. VERONICA: Okay, go on. CATE: Absolutely. Absolutely. Good point. And so, you’ll get to the end of that 6 months, and a lot of judges will then put the case on a trial calendar. Or they’ll have you come in for a pretrial hearing just to give the judge an update about what’s going on.
07:24	CATE: At any time during discovery or after the discovery period has expired, either party can petition the court for mediation. One side, me representing the plaintiff, I can petition on behalf of the plaintiff to do a mediation. Which I often do because I’m such a big proponent of mediation and how effective it is. And now more and more, especially during COVID and in the post COVID era that we’re in now, the judges’ dockets have gotten so full of cases that most judges actually require the case to go to mediation before going to trial.
08:01	VERONICA: Let’s see if we can work this out before getting into a courtroom. CATE: Absolutely, absolutely. Because it takes a lot of resources to go to trial. Not only for the court to call in the jury and the resources that it takes to get that. But for each side on the case, it takes resources and money to prepare for trial. So, the judge is hoping that a mediation and having this one day where everyone is focused on the case could possibly lead to a resolution before going to trial.
08:30	VERONICA: Now, before we take some time to get into what that actually looks like, tell me again, because I think we talked about it before, what is the difference between mediation and arbitration? CATE: Absolutely. And I just know this from studying it and from seeing it on a couple of contracts, but I will say before I say anything, I am not an expert in arbitration, and I’m not an arbitrator. There are, you know, people that are trained to be mediators, also people that are trained to be arbitrators.
09:01	CATE: You could be a mediator and an arbitrator, but I have not gotten into that realm of conflict resolution. VERONICA: So, what is it, Cate? CATE: Arbitration is a little bit more limiting than the mediation and trial track. It is something usually that you would sign off on by signing a contract. So, it could be a landlord/tenant lease contract. It could be an employment contract. A lot of employers have arbitration clauses written into the employment contracts because they want to have kind of a smooth process if something comes up.
09:35	CATE: They want to be able to have a process that in large part is defined by the employer. VERONICA: Okay, so let me interrupt you because I remember when I signed… I actually am one of these people who tries to look through terms of services and all this kind of terms of service when I’m signing contracts or whatever. And it’ll say if you have a dispute with me, XYZ social media company or whatever it is, you agree that this dispute will be handled by arbitration in the home state of whatever the company.
10:07	VERONICA: So that’s… arbitration is basically business related. CATE: Yes. Yes, for the most part it is, and I don’t know if you’ve been following this, but I’ve been following this Wells Fargo kind of scandal that the company is embroiled in, where a lot of their salespeople were trying to boost their numbers in terms of how many customers they had. VERONICA: And opening all these random accounts in people’s names. CATE: Random accounts in the names of people they already had but opening up multiple accounts under that name.
10:39	CATE: And so, in that contract with the person who originally made the contract for the bank account, there was an arbitration clause. And so, the bank is trying to uphold the arbitration clause because it allows them to have the arbitration occur in what… the state that they choose under the clause. It allows them to basically select from a number of arbitrators, but you wonder if there is some bias if the company kind of generally selected how the arbitration would happen.
11:10	CATE: It also limits the parties from being able to do a class action. So, when you’re going down the lawsuit track towards trial, and you’re not doing arbitration, you can do a class action. VERONICA: But arbitration means that stuff gets cut off. CATE: It’s cut off. Discovery gets cut off with arbitration. So, it’s taking away a lot of rights that you might otherwise have if you’re going down the traditional lawsuit, possible mediation, and then trial path.
11:41	CATE: You don’t get your kind of day in court either. VERONICA: So different story with mediation. It does allow, I guess, both sides to come out of it with something. CATE: Absolutely, yes. VERONICA: Is that fair? CATE: Yes. And one of those differences as well is that both sides agree on a mediator. VERONICA: Now with an arbitration, you don’t have to do. I get to agree or… the arbitrator basically says, this is what it’s going to be. Be happy with that.
12:10	CATE: There, the company is not going to tell you a particular arbitrator that you have to go with. VERONICA: No, I mean… CATE: But they have selected kind of a panel. VERONICA: Oops, sorry. Does the arbitrator say, “This is my decision. Peace out”? CATE: Yes, the arbitration is binding. So, whatever happens in the arbitration, you can’t open it up again. You can’t open up the claim again. You can’t go to trial on it. VERONICA: Wow. And with mediation, it’s a resolution that’s binding, but everybody agrees to it. CATE: Absolutely, yes.
12:39	VERONICA: Yeah. Talk about your day in court. And I’m wondering if it is… briefly, is it expensive to do? CATE: For mediation? VERONICA: Yeah. CATE: So, it depends on the mediator. They charge different amounts per hour. A lot of times, courts will have their own dispute resolution office, which is a cheaper route where they will provide a list of mediators that you can choose from. So, let’s say the mediation takes the whole day. It can cost anywhere between 500, maybe a $1000.
13:10	VERONICA: So, I wonder then how everybody walks away with a smile on their faces. And we’re going to talk about that just ahead: mediation with mediator and Montlick injury attorney Cate Powell. Straight ahead, more of that on Lawyers in the House with Montlick. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 8 a.m. every Sunday if you want to listen live on 95.5 WSV.
13:43	VERONICA: All right, now welcome back to the house, Lawyers in the House with me, your girl Veronica Waters, hosting the legendary by now Cate Powell. Why are you laughing? You are legendary in my eyes. CATE: Thank you. I will take that. VERONICA: The legendary mediator and Montlick injury attorney Cate Powell back with us talking about mediation. So cool that Cate has done mediation cases both as a mediator and as an attorney now.
14:10	VERONICA: So totally fascinating and I’ve really got to delve into how it differs. But first, we were talking about the track to a lawsuit and how we get there. And I’m wondering, really who wins? Who comes out the winner in a mediation? Be honest. CATE: Oh, I’ll be honest, because I have to be brutally honest with my clients as we approach mediation.
14:34	CATE: And I will say to them that nobody walks away from a mediation feeling like a winner, in the sense that it was everything and more that they had ever wanted out of the situation. And just thinking about the whole trauma and injury and everything they’ve been through, there’s no amount of money, nothing that can bring them back to the day before the accident happened.
15:02	CATE: So, I think winner is not the word that I use. But a mediation is an opportunity for all the parties to come together. And that is the nature of compromise – is that you give away some things to get some things back. And so, you walk away, feeling like you did your best. You’re a winner in the sense that you got more money than you would have going down another track, and you’re a winner in the sense that you can now kind of put it behind you and move on.
15:36	VERONICA: Good point because you mentioned getting your day in court, but the downside maybe to getting your day in court is maybe it’s a little more traumatic to go through that process. CATE: Yes, and so as I’m kind of talking to my clients, every couple of days, throughout the process, and we’re talking about next steps, we’re getting offers from the insurance company, the offers don’t seem fair. And so, I tell them what all of the options are, where mediation is an option. And if mediation doesn’t work out, then we will prepare for trial.
16:07	CATE: But I also tell them… and it’s a lawyer’s job to say the good, the bad and the ugly, and like you just said, the brutal honesty that a trial is stressful. I have seen clients go through so much stress being in trial. And then in trial, you don’t know what the result is going to be. So, it is almost like the ultimate gamble. Where I have a high success rate as an attorney, but I cannot guarantee any outcome at the end of the trial.
16:37	CATE: In mediation, the outcome is guaranteed because the money is on the table. VERONICA: The money is on the table. Talking about what a mediation looks like in my only experience with it to date. Fingers crossed it’s my only one. We’re talking with Cate Powell from Montlick Injury Attorneys, I’m Veronica Waters, and this is Lawyers in the House. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 8 a.m. every Sunday on 95.5 WSB.
17:07	VERONICA: Hey everybody, welcome back to Lawyers in the House. Thanks for hanging out with us for another fabulous episode. I’m your host Veronica Waters and we have been dropping some real knowledge up in here so if you missed the first half of the show, don’t worry – we got you. Check out LawyersintheHouse.com. And remember you can always like and subscribe to our podcasts or our episodes on your favorite podcast platform and check us out on YouTube as well. Remember you can shoot us a question anytime of the day.
17:36	VERONICA: Check us out on social media @Montlicklaw on the Facebook and the Twitter and the Instagram and you can drop us an email at [email protected]. Check us out. We would love to hear from you. So, we’re talking today with Montlick injury attorney Cate Powell and she’s also a licensed mediator. Is that what you call it- licensed mediator? Is there a formal title for that or something? Did I just say it right? CATE: You did it. Yep. VERONICA: You know what? Look at me. I’m practically a lawyer myself.
18:07	VERONICA: Licensed mediator and attorney Cate Powell has been mediating for many years and now she’s sort of getting into these cases on the… sort of the other side of the fence. I want to talk a little bit about what mediation really looks like because I know I shared with you that everything that I know about mediation pretty much comes from TV and movies. And the thing that jumps out to me is… did anybody see, did you see Wedding Crashers? You know, the movie Wedding Crashers?
18:36	VERONICA: So, it opens with this scene where a couple- a divorcing couple is arguing over frequent flyer miles, right? And they’re sitting across from each other and, you know, she was like, you used those… you racked up those miles, flying to see your skanky girlfriends or whatever. And he was like, she can’t have the miles. I earned those. You know, it was like such a back and forth, right? That’s my experience with mediation. Thankfully, hopefully I never have to mediate anything in my life or be a part of one. That’s my only experience – is pop culture. Tell me how real that is.
19:06	VERONICA: How true to life is that Cate? CATE: Absolutely. So, there’s mediation in all different types of conflicts. So, there’s family law mediation, which would be the divorce mediation. And I do not specialize in family law or family law mediations. Then there’s personal injury mediation, which is kind of what Montlick does and what we’re kind of mostly talking about today, which is different.
19:30	CATE: So, in a personal injury type mediation, one thing that I say to clients that they don’t maybe already know is that the defendant, the person who caused the accident… I have never had a mediation where the actual defendant was in the room. VERONICA: Oh, really? CATE: So, it’s not like a family or a divorce mediation where the adverse parties, the actual individuals are facing each other at the table, which is powerful for the family law situation.
20:00	CATE: But for our personal injury situation, I don’t… it is not necessary. VERONICA: I would imagine it would be super emotional too. If the person who caused my accident, whatever it is, is like sitting across… I mean, we’ve seen cases in criminal courts get passionate when somebody tries to launch themselves at a defendant for the harm that they cause to their family. I mean, if you’re looking at the person… if you survived an accident, and the person who caused it is right there in front of your face? CATE: Right. VERONICA: Oh my gosh. CATE: Right. And that person in most cases has already admitted that they were at fault.
20:32	VERONICA: You know, so it’s not like they’re disputing anything about the case. It’s basically the insurance company. And that’s why we have insurance for the insurance to step in and handle and pay out the claims. VERONICA: So, we’re talking a lot about personal injury claims because that’s what you do. Is the insurance company, the defendant in this case, the one who says, let’s sit down around the table? Who is the one who actually calls for the mediation?
21:01	CATE: It depends on the case. So more and more I am seeing insurance companies request the mediation. And some insurance companies, for example, Geico pre lawsuit, they will try to call all of their claims and all of their cases they have with me, for example, and just mediate the cases and just see if it’s possible to resolve the cases because the insurance companies are interested in resolving the cases prior to trial as well.
21:31	CATE: They have to pay their lawyers to go to trial. So, it’s a big resource drain for them as well to take these cases to trial. So, a lot of times it is the insurance company also initiating the mediation. VERONICA: So cool. So, it’s like, and I wonder if every insurance company is like, wait a minute, Cate Powell, we gotta watch out for her. Give her what she wants. Is it like that?
21:56	CATE: Yes, I will go ahead and say yes about that because the longer I’m in practice or any attorney is in practice, the more you get to know people. So, I know a lot of defense attorneys around the state and have good working relationships with them. They know what I’m capable of, and I have mediated or gone against them on many cases before. So, they know who I am. They know what I’m capable of. And I find myself working with the same adjusters oftentimes.
22:26	CATE: The same adjusters are assigned to these particular set of cases that’s in the Atlanta region or… you know, so you do get a reputation. VERONICA: Relationships kind of form. Like you were talking about relationships forming and the importance of that. The couple of times we’ve had you on the show before. CATE: Yes. VERONICA: So quickly, then how does a mediator stay neutral? Because I was thinking you have a lot of the same attorneys that you see all of the time. How can you… how do I know whether or not the mediator’s being fair to both sides?
22:58	VERONICA: Maybe you’re a little more likely to lean this way because you know that guy or this gal a little bit better. CATE: Absolutely. And oftentimes when the mediator makes their introduction statement, they are kind of telling the parties what their position is and how they are neutral. So, they don’t have any relationship to anyone on either side of the table. A lot of times mediators go in without any prior knowledge of the case.
23:26	CATE: So, they just learn about the case for the first time during the mediation, and then they say at the end of this mediation, I am shredding my notes. I am going to basically forget what happened here, because the mediator has to hold all of that in confidence, mediators cannot be called to testify at trial. None of those notes can be revealed. None of the offers that are made at mediation or demands that are made by the plaintiff at mediation can be brought up in trial. It’s all confidential. VERONICA: And I think that is also fascinating.
23:57	VERONICA: Because if you don’t work it out in the rooms where you’re sitting for what hours, I’m guessing hours… CATE: Yes. VERONICA: Then it’s like everything’s off the table. CATE: Absolutely. VERONICA: Forget you ever saw that. Nothing to see here. CATE: And that’s such a great point is you want people to feel like they can come to the table. It’s almost an element of vulnerability. To show your cards. VERONICA: Yeah, you are showing your hand. CATE: Showing your hand and showing what you’re willing to accept in terms of monetary payment on a case. And the insurance company is willing to say what they’re very top offer would be.
24:30	VERONICA: Are they really giving you the very top offer though? CATE: That is the question and that is why as a mediator and then as an attorney representing my clients, I will always ask the mediator to go back into the room three, four, five times to continue to put pressure on the insurance company. And if the offer is not fair, in my mind, and the mediator will sometimes give feedback and say, I don’t actually think this is a fair offer, considering what I’ve seen in that county with trials and verdicts coming out of that county for these similar facts.
25:04	CATE: I don’t think this is fair. So, then you can walk out of a mediation. And sometimes walking out causes the insurance company to possibly call back in a few days or a week and give a higher offer. VERONICA: They know what a jury is likely to do. CATE: But either they would come back and give a higher offer or both sides buckle down and get ready for trial. VERONICA: Go to trial. How often does a plaintiff get something in the realm of what they’ve been asking for?
25:36	VERONICA: Like you said, nothing makes you whole after you’ve had an accident, but it seems to me that the whole aspect of mediation is the number in the middle that is the least that the injured person wants to take and how high the insurance company will get to that number. CATE: Yes, yep. So, I have an example on that one. VERONICA: Yeah, give us some real-life stories. CATE: One of my best clients, the nicest guy…
26:04
26:29	CATE: We ended up in a court-ordered mediation, selected the mediator, and at the end of the day, they ended up paying, I think, somewhere around two times the medical bills. And so… just, I’m just giving that as an example to illustrate when you get… when you decide to do a mediation, and everyone has cleared their calendar for that day…
27:02	CATE: The adjuster is there. The attorney is there. I’m there with my client. Everyone is 100% focused on that case, a lot can get done. VERONICA: They knew you meant business. CATE: Right. VERONICA: And they knew what the right thing to do was. CATE: Right. VERONICA: We have talked many times about how it’s just a business, right? It is, they’re doing what they do. This is what the insurance companies do.
27:31	CATE: Right, right. And it’s unfortunate, and I often tell clients who are calling for the first time about some of the things I’ve seen. And saying, you know, you really do need an attorney to be by your side for this because you never know what the insurance company is going to do or try to offer.
28:00	VERONICA: So, you said it’s not like family law when people are facing each other off across the table, right? You come in, you make a statement about who you are, and this is what we’re doing here. And this is how I’m qualified, right? I’m Cate Powell. You know, I’m bad. You know, look out here I come. Be happy that I’m in the room with you because I’m going to get everybody a great result, right? And then what, you just go off to your separate corners? CATE: Yes.
28:27	CATE: So, the mediator makes an introductory remark, but then the mediator while everyone’s in the same room allows both sides to make an opening statement first before you split up. VERONICA: Okay, so is there like cross examination too? Or… CATE: There is not, but sometimes the other side will make a rebuttal on the opening statement, so I treat it like I’m headed to trial, so I make a full PowerPoint presentation, a full opening statement, because really a lot of these cases do settle and don’t go to trial.
28:58	CATE: So, this is the chance to and the mediator usually says, okay, Cate’s going to do her fireworks display over here with her opening statement. That’s the chance to tell the whole story of the case and our position… VERONICA: Hold nothing back. CATE: And I hold nothing back. And then he – the mediator – will have the defense side make a statement. Their statement is usually a lot shorter. They’ll say we’re really sorry this happened and we’re here to try to get the case resolved. And then the parties split up into two separate rooms.
29:28	CATE: And so, I will be in a room just me and my client and then the insurance adjuster and the defense attorney will be in a different room and then the mediator spends the day going back and forth. Talking to both sides about the strengths of their side, but also the challenges. And so, the mediator’s job is to get each side to see different perspectives so that the insurance company’s number can go up and the plaintiff side number can possibly go down and, like you said, meet somewhere that is workable.
30:05	CATE: And again, I’m not going to say that’s a win or a win-win, but it is workable for both sides. VERONICA: It is a resolution. Cate Powell, mediator and Montlick injury attorney, is coming right back to you with the Montlick closing argument, so stay with us. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with mount lick. If you want to listen to our radio show live, you can hear it every Sunday, 8 a.m. on 95.5 WSB.
30:38	VERONICA: Thanks for hanging with us on this episode of Lawyers in the House. You know I promise it to you every single week. The Montlick closing argument and that time has now arrived. I’m your host Veronica Waters here with Montlick injury attorney Cate Powell, and I asked Cate a little bit about what it feels like… Did I ask you what it feels like, being a mediator versus being an attorney in a mediation? Give me that in a couple of seconds before we get to this closing argument.
31:05	CATE: Couple of seconds – I got it. So, a mediator is only in the life of the case for a day. So, it’s an in-and-out kind of experience. And a mediator is kind of nurturing both sides. And holding space for the perspective of each side, which is very different than zealously advocating for my one, my plaintiff, my one side, my one perspective. So, it is very different.
31:35	VERONICA: It feels very different. It sounds very different. All right, so now that we’re here, let’s talk about the Montlick closing argument. What do you want to leave us with, Cate? CATE: So, I will leave with two different things. The first is advice that I would give to clients and that I do give to clients as their attorney, leading up to mediation. I say, you know, we don’t know what’s going to happen in the mediation.
31:59	CATE: We don’t know what the highest offer is going to be, but prior to going to trial, it is worth it to just find out what that top offer would be so that you have that knowledge before you decide to take what could be a risk in going to trial. And then as a mediator, advice to give to both parties is probably along the lines of something I said earlier, which is that we are all here to compromise.
32:30	CATE: And compromise is difficult. And this may not be the highest and best number that you ever hoped for or for the insurance company, the lowest number that you hoped to pay, but we’re here today to see if we can meet somewhere and reach a resolution for this conflict. VERONICA: Ever had a client say, I wish I hadn’t agreed to that number?
32:54	CATE: I do, but it’s rare because I try to make sure in the mediation before we settle any case that the client has time to think about it. They have the knowledge about what could happen if we went to trial. They have all of those resources at their fingertips and they’re not feeling pressured into any decision. So, I don’t want clients to come back feeling unhappy.
33:21	VERONICA: We have been talking about mediation with an expert who has experience- many years’ experience- on both sides of the table. Thank you so much for elucidating this with us. Cate Powell from Montlick injury attorneys. I’m your host Veronica Waters. And the wise man, Mick Jagger once said, you can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes… Come on. CATE: You get what you get what you need.
33:50	CATE: So true. Thank you for having me. I really enjoyed being with you. VERONICA: I had fun with you here at the house. Montlick Injury Attorneys, Lawyers in the House, I’m Veronica Waters, we will see you next time. You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Catch us live every Sunday, 8 a.m. on 95.5 WSB.

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