WHY MEDIATE?
In a nutshell: Cost, Risk, Uncertainty, and Human Impacts.
Cost: This needs no elaboration. Civil litigation is expensive, by any standard.
Risk and Uncertainty: Our civil litigation system lacks predictability, driven by a body of law that is often conflicting, unclear, or poorly developed, coupled with enormous variability in how judges understand and apply the law in a given factual setting, and in how jurors decide what the fact are and apply them to the law. The law has been created by people, and is interpreted and applied by people, and that brings with it all the biases, errors, unintended effects, and other unpleasant byproducts that accompany human involvement in any endeavor.
Human Impacts: Civil litigation is stressful, and the long timelines to resolve most civil cases in court means that that stress and strain will be weighing on the parties for an extended period of time.
SERVICES
Areas of Expertise
Your legal dispute is important – shouldn’t you have a hand in crafting a resolution, rather than leaving it up to a judge, or a group of 12 people picked off the street? The majority of civil claims can and should be settled by the parties. My name is John Wiegenstein, and I want to help you make that happen.
30 years of Washington civil litigation practice
Personal injury, property damage, construction, real estate disputes
Extensive mediation and arbitration experience
In-depth knowledge of insurance claims handling
Flexible and available to travel wherever needed to get the job done
Simple, cost-effective mediation fee structure
Why Choose Me as Your Mediator?
I’ve been handling civil litigation in a variety of western Washington courts since 1991, with a wide variety of claims including personal injury, property damage, construction litigation, environmental cleanups, land and boundary disputes, surface water drainage, landslides, insurance coverage, homeowners association disputes, and more.
In many of those cases, insurance carriers were involved to defend their policyholders when they were sued. I understand how carriers work, how they evaluate claims, and how they approach settlement. I also have significant experience in dealing with settings where insurance coverage is uncertain, and the carrier is defending the case under “reservation of rights”. These settings present additional complexities and issues that a mediator must be attuned to.
I completed the 40 hour professional mediator training course at the University of Washington in 2005, and have participated in hundreds of mediations as counsel for one of the parties, in addition to my own more recent work as a mediator.
Get Started
The Details
Rates
$400/hour total, or $2,800 for a full 8-hour day. I provide up to 1 hour review of materials in advance of the mediation session at no additional charge.
Logistics
Mediations are usually done via ZOOM videoconference. This is convenient for the parties and their attorneys, and saves travel time and expense. I am also available to travel to on-site mediations when the parties prefer that approach.
Contact me
By phone at (360) 509-9070, or email at jw@jwmediates.com. I’ll be happy to discuss availability, suitability for your case, and any other questions you might have.