Presented to the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution by Sachin Bansal, Anne Brooksher-Yen, Blake M. Guy, and John DeGroote, this webinar presented an unfiltered client’s-eye view of the mediation process, mediator performance, and more.

1. What I Wish My Mediators Knew
March 14, 2017

2. Copyright © 2017 DeGroote Partners, LLC
It Starts Before We Start
2
• Your
• reputation
• web presence
• specialties
• success rate
• facilities
• …and more

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What You Do Is Important
3
• Advance calls
• Expectations
and ground rules
• Do you know
• the parties?
• the material?
• Attitude is
important

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Your Rates Are Not That Important
4
• You do the math
• We understand
value ≠ cost
• Higher cost
can yield higher
perceived value

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I Want Your Opinion
5
• When is important
• How is important

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Creative Techniques Can Help
6
• Decision tree
analysis
• Non-binding
arbitration
• High-low
agreements

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Mediator’s Proposals Are Changing Mediation
7

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What Time Does It End?
8

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I Don’t Have To Settle It All Today
9
• Targeted
adjournment
• Settle halfway

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I Know My Case May Not Fit In One Day
10
• Leverage
nonsettlers’
remorse
• Follow-up

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What’s Next?
11
• The Deep Dive
• Settlement
Counsel
• Planned Early
Negotiation
Don’t let your case be
something you spend a
hundred grand a month
on until everyone’s
ready to deal with it.
“ “

12. Copyright © 2017 DeGroote Partners, LLC
About
Sachin Bansal
Royal Bank of Canada
12
30 Hudson Street, 28th Floor
Jersey City, New Jersey 07302-4600
office 212 • 428 • 6216
cell 919 • 608 • 3218
sachin.bansal@rbccm.com
• Royal Bank of Canada
– Director and Senior Counsel – Litigation
• McKool Smith, P.C.
• Paul Hastings
• Duke Law School Wrongful Convictions Clinic
– Pro Bono Counsel (2009 – 2016)
• J.D., Duke University School of Law
• B.A., Duke University

13. Copyright © 2017 DeGroote Partners, LLC
About
Anne Brooksher-Yen
Celanese
13
222 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Suite 900N
Irving, Texas 75039
office 972 • 443 • 4655
Anne.Brooksher-Yen@celanese.com
• Celanese
– Associate General Counsel
• Arnold & Porter
• Winston & Strawn LLP
• J.D., New York University School of Law
• B.A., University of Arizona

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About
Blake M. Guy
DRS Technologies, Inc.
14
• DRS Technologies, Inc.
– VP – Corporate Counsel
– Chief Labor & Employment Counsel
• BearingPoint, Inc. (2003-2009)
– Chief Litigation Counsel
– Associate Corporate Counsel, Employment
• J.D., The College of William and Mary – Marshall Wythe
Law School
• B.A., The College of William and Mary
office 703 • 896 • 7177
cell 240 • 271 • 8863
bguy@drs.com

15. Copyright © 2017 DeGroote Partners, LLC
About
John DeGroote
DeGroote Partners, LLC
15
Hickory Street Annex
501 S 2nd Avenue, Suite A-700
Dallas, Texas 75226
office 214 • 887• 3484
cell 214 • 288 • 6864
john@degrootepartners.com
• Serves as mediator and arbitrator in significant business disputes.
• Serves as a privately-appointed corporate officer and director in select situations.
• Served from 2000 through 2008 as the Chief Litigation Counsel to
KPMG Consulting/BearingPoint; led a team of over 40 in-house lawyers around the globe
as the Company's Chief Legal Officer from 2008 through late 2009, when he became the
Company's President.
• Appointed to serve as the Liquidating Trustee to the BearingPoint, Inc. Liquidating Trust by
the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
• Previously practiced with the law firms of McKool Smith, P.C. and Jackson Walker, L.L.P.,
with a focus on complex technology, commercial, and intellectual property litigation matters
against and for various Fortune 500 companies.
• Received his mediation training from Pepperdine University's Straus Institute for
Dispute Resolution in 2005.
• Serves as the Chair Elect to the State Bar of Texas ADR Section and the past Chair of the
Dallas Bar Association's ADR Section.
• J.D., Duke University School of Law, 1990; B.A., Mississippi State University, 1986
John DeGroote is a former global company general counsel now focused on significant business
disputes and special situations nationwide. He believes that hands-on leadership, early matter
assessment, and aggressive project management drive results.

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What Time Does It End?