The plaintiffs John (husband) and Mary (wife) were in their 2010 Toyota Corolla, on their way to church, when they were hit from behind by the Defendant who was driving a 2020 Cadillac Escalade. The Corolla was totaled. The husband (the driver) suffered injuries to his back and neck. The wife suffered an injury to her shoulder.
The husband and wife’s insurance had lapsed the week before the accident. They have filed a lawsuit against the Defendant and his/her insurance company. They are seeking $30,000 including their unpaid medical expenses, compensatory, and punitive damages.
The Defendant’s policy has a limit of $300,000 and a $1000 deductible. S/he shows up at mediation with the lawyer and an adjuster for the insurance company. The adjuster has the authority to settle up to the last demand, but of course, s/he doesn’t want to.
1. Using your selected case, identify the substantive, procedural, and psychological issues that may need to be addressed? Which of these would your address first? Explain
2. Using your selected case study, identify how each party sees the other as the “problem.” (1) What would be each party’s solution? (2) How would you move the problem to the other side of the table? (3) How would you frame the problem to include both parties. (address all three sub-questions)
3. Discuss at least five of the techniques in Chapter 7 that could be applied to your case?
4. Using the notetaking form below, identify the parties’ possible interests, rights, power, and commonalities. (Before completing the notetaking form, please revisit Notetaking for Mediators – chapter 6, p.106 and review Figure 6.2 Sample Notetaking Form).
