McNeil Mediation

07/14/2020

Here is my monthly mediation blog. This one discusses the lessons that Lance Armstrong learned from his lawsuit with the Postal Service arising from the doping scandal (and a little tidbit about the fortune he made on a stock trade):

For those working with mediators, the Lance Armstrong ESPN "30 for 30" documentary provided some inside views about two critical lessons that Armstrong learned from the settlement of his lawsuit with ex-teammate Floyd Landis and the United States Postal Service.

06/12/2020

The pandemic has created an epic backlog of court cases. Here is my monthly blog with some of the numbers:

With an epic backlog of cases due to the pandemic, it will be more important than ever that attorneys use alternative dispute resolution to resolve business and employment disputes. This will certainly include mediation, and when appropriate, the use of binding arbitration.

04/14/2020

An American president once said, “those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.” No saying is more true.

Last month, just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, Netflix released an eight-part documentary called Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness which gave us some jaw-dropping insight into some outrageous litigation twists and turns involving a mullet-wearing guy out of Oklahoma — especi...

03/12/2020

Here are my thoughts about mediation and avoiding the virus:

Everyone knows by now that the Center for Disease Control is responding to an outbreak of a respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus that was first detected in China and which has now been found in more than 100 locations internationally, including Minnesota. The CDC named the virus “SARS-C...

02/19/2020

Studies show that over 80% of cases will settle at mediation. This trial team was back in court on a business dispute but we haven’t given up on the possibility of finding a settlement, which is always beneficial for our clients.

01/15/2020

We received news today about another favorable FINRA arbitration award today. I am not just a mediator of business and employment disputes; I also help people solve problems. Elizabeth almost always works on my trial team. So far, this trial team has obtained more than "just okay" results in FINRA and AAA arbitrations, as well as state district court trials. At our firm, a mini-surfboard stays in the office with the latest good result. Elizabeth and Don are the current surfers.

01/08/2020

In my mediation practice, sometimes the parties are not able to get an agreement on the actual mediation date. I will always follow up by telephone with the parties in order to find a way to get the matter resolved. Today, I'm back on the phone working on getting another business dispute settled.

11/27/2019

Enormous wealth disparity in our country is a major reason my mediation practice is seeing more matters involving non-solicitation disputes:

The financial world is abuzz about the fact that many major players in the broker-dealer world are leaving the Protocol for Broker Recruiting. There was a time where broker-dealers regularly litigated over non-solicit and non-competition agreements with their former registered representatives. There...

10/01/2019

I share some thoughts about the annual report from the Minnesota Judiciary:

The Annual Report to the Community from the Minnesota Judicial Branch, submitted by Chief Justice Lori Gildea of the Minnesota Supreme Court, was released a few weeks ago. http://www.mncourts.gov/mncourtsgov/media/PublicationReports/2018%20Annual%20Report/2018-MJB-Annual-Report-to-the-Community.pdf....

09/24/2019

Inside a mediation.

09/24/2019

I’m in Chicago for another mediation.