“Four-way Settlement Conferences”: Mediation Without The Mediator

A “Four-way settlement conference” is when husband and wife and their respective attorneys meet at one of the attorneys’ offices to negotiate and attempt to settle the case.  These meetings are often an excellent forum to settle a case.  

 

Nothing can waste time and a client’s money like the two attorneys going back and forth and back and forth sending settlement letters and emails.   If I send my opponent a detailed settlement letter, chances are that he will in turn mail it to his client for review.  In a few days they will then talk, and at some point the attorney will draft a counter-proposal (which could take days depending on his schedule).  He will then give it to his client to review, which often takes a few more days.  When the opposing party approves the letter, the lawyer then sends it to me.  No matter how quickly I respond to the settlement letter, the opposing side may then go through the same drill again. Before you know it a month has passed and relatively little progress has been made.