Are you involved in a dispute that requires a neutral third party to help bring closure outside of the traditional court setting?
Peggy Foley Jones is passionate about working with people to resolve their conflicts. She has an established track record of successfully helping parties to resolve thousands of disputes. She is patient, persistent, and has the innate ability to make people feel comfortable sharing their stories during the mediation process.
Peggy Foley Jones is a distinguished Mediator and Arbitrator on leading ADR panels including the American Arbitration Association (AAA), Resolute Systems, Inc., Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the U.S. EEOC Mediation program. Peggy serves on the AAA’s Employment, Commercial and Judicial panels and has been selected as a AAA Master Mediator.
Peggy Foley Jones has served as a Mediator in well over a thousand disputes in the following areas:
wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination (race, disability, sexual orientation, gender, religious beliefs and age), retaliation, hostile work environment, wage disputes, FLSA matters, class actions, severance agreements, EEOC complaints, breaches of non-compete and non-solicitation provisions.
breach of agreements involving commercial leases, employment agreements, non-compete and non-solicitation agreements, sale of goods, tortious interference, coercion, misrepresentation, and fraud.
police brutality, false arrest, wrongful conviction, and employment discrimination.
general commercial liability, professional E&O claims, fraud and bad faith, D&O liability disputes, business interruption and property loss, product liability claims, residential property damage and construction defects.
Lemon Law and Consumer Sales Practices Act cases.
failure to diagnose, medical errors, surgical errors, neglect, infection, and other serious injuries.
negligence (slip and falls, car and trucking accidents, dog bite cases), wrongful death, intentional torts, and strict liability, sexual assault, defamation, slander, and libel.
defective manufacture and design, failure to provide warnings.
removal of executors and trustees, mismanagement/concealment of assets, breach of fiduciary duty, disputes between beneficiaries, third-party claims and trust contests.
Mediation is a process that uses an impartial third party to assist Parties in resolving their legal dispute. The Mediator’s role is to guide the Parties toward a mutually beneficial resolution. The Mediator helps the Parties focus on the important issues in dispute and communicate more effectively about the risks of litigation and the legal, emotional, financial and personal issues that are important to reaching an agreement.
If a dispute does not settle through mediation, the Mediator will continue to work with the Parties after the mediation to see if a settlement can be reached. There are several techniques the Mediator can use to keep the Parties negotiating. One is to give them an official Mediator’s proposal to consider. Another option is to give the Parties an unbiased evaluation of their case. This neutral evaluation is only performed with the Parties’ consent. Lastly, a follow up mediation session can be arranged.
One powerful benefit of Mediation is that the Parties have more control over the outcome of their dispute and can come up with creative solutions that even a jury or judge cannot provide. For example, a terminated employee can negotiate a job reference as part of the resolution, or the employer can guarantee that the employee does not reapply for a position with the company. The Parties can also agree to not disparage one another and agree to keep the settlement confidential. Mediation saves time and money that the parties would be spending going to court, paying legal and expert fees, and getting prepared for trial.
Why don’t disputes settle at the mediation? The most common reason is that the parties don’t have enough information to evaluate their positions and they need to do some additional discovery before coming back to the negotiation table. Sometimes a necessary party did not participate in the mediation and, therefore, another session needs to occur with all decision makers present. It is not unusual for a party or the insurance representative to learn new information at the mediation which requires them to get additional authority to settle the matter.
Mediation brings closure for people that a court trial may not be able to provide. Not only does closure enhance personal health and well-being, but it can return the feeling of control and of being heard in what is otherwise an emotionally draining experience.
The Supreme Court’s Dispute Resolution Section recently released a podcast series that delves into a variety of topics to build conflict resolution skills. The audio series – titled “Civility and Solu...
Peggy Foley Jones is volunteering for the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (CMBA) 2020 Mediation Initiative. This is a collaborative effort with the judges of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common...
If you think it’s time to bring closure to your dispute, now is the time to contact us.