After more than thirty-five years of having an active trial practice in Dallas and Houston representing and trying cases for both plaintiffs and defendants, I opened Wiley George Mediation PLLC. During my trial practice I handled about every kind of commercial litigation case you could handle and had some personal injury experience too. As a result of mediating countless cases, I learned some things about mediation that I thought were particularly effective and some things that I did not like. When the mediator was educated about the dispute beforehand and stayed substantively engaged throughout the mediation day, the mediation had a good chance. When the mediator was just going through the motions, shuttling back and forth with numbers, the mediation had much less of a chance. One of the things that I particularly did not like was the downtime. My goal as a mediator is to minimize the time parties and their lawyers sit twiddling their thumbs, and a way to deal with that is for me to study your dispute before you get to the mediation. I have a suggested process for us to follow that will help me to do that. Something else that I found effective in a mediator was follow-up. If our mediation does not result in a settlement despite best efforts, you can depend on me to follow up.
Working hard to get your dispute settled at mediation is not the only way I can facilitate a settlement. I can also help you by serving as your “settlement counsel” or by helping you to evaluate your dispute for settlement purposes. I also consider arbitration opportunities. Whether you are considering me as a mediator, settlement counsel or an arbitrator, look at my background and the description of my mediation process, fees and other services. If I am a fit for your dispute, please contact me.
