MEDIA

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Recently, I mediated a highly contentious corporate dissolution dispute. The case involved the two sole shareholders of a small toy company whose partnership had completely unraveled.* The plaintiff claimed that the defendant, who managed the company’s finances, owed him a substantial sum in unpaid dividends. In response, the defendant accused the plaintiff of mismanaging the business, causing multi-million-dollar losses, and being responsible for a third-party lawsuit that resulted in a significant corporate payout. The hostility between them was intense; when the company dissolved, the defendant even had the plaintiff escorted off the property by the police. 

Neutral Lee Mendelson knows the day of mediation is enormous for litigants. "They're about to make a big decision on something they got so upset about they filed suit," Mendelson said. "Or they've been sued over something someone else felt so upset about. There are a lot of emotions here. And I want to hear how they feel, and what they have to say."

Rediscovering the value of in-person mediation