ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how judge-mediators draw on their knowledge of the law, technically and as a matter of professional practice, to make legally persuasive arguments. The competency they make evident includes expertise in the pertinent areas of substantive law and familiarity with trial procedures, evidentiary rules and with verdicts in the various courts and jurisdictions. Judicial mediators routinely seek movement from litigants by invoking adverse legal precedent in published appellate decisions/by adversely interpreting pertinent statutory authority. In successive private sessions with each side, judge-mediators engage in concession-seeking which usually occurs in a recurrent sequence: a negative case assessment is produced as a precursor to soliciting a revised and "more reasonable" figure from the litigant. The next case concerns plaintiffs claim of breach of fiduciary duty by his financial adviser relating to advice he gave on the purchase and sale of a piece of real property. Concession-seeking by judge-mediators often consists of legally based and case specific assessment and claims-making.
