Mediation Brief Drafter

Use when a litigator, in-house counsel, ADR specialist, mediation advocate, or a party representative working with counsel needs to draft a two-part mediation brief — a SHARED brief that will be exchanged with the opposing party and the mediator, plus a CONFIDENTIAL mediator-only brief — for a single scheduled civil mediation session under JAMS, AAA, FINRA, private, court-annexed, EEOC, community-mediation, or contractual ADR rules. Guides intake of matter caption, jurisdiction, mediator and rules, mediation date and session length, party roster with named representatives and authority levels, opposing counsel, prior demand and offer history, case theme, audience analysis, and brief-exchange convention (exchanged simultaneously / in advance / submitted only to mediator); drafts the SHARED brief (procedural posture, undisputed facts, disputed facts with party position, claims and defences with controlling authority, damages framework with itemised computation, key exhibits index, motions and rulings to date, opposing counsel's strongest arguments named candidly, settlement history with prior demand / offer ladder, proposed framework for the session, signature block) and the CONFIDENTIAL mediator-only brief (BATNA — best alternative to a negotiated agreement, named, costed, time-discounted, probability-weighted; WATNA — worst alternative, named, costed, time-discounted, probability-weighted; ZOPA hypotheses with floor / target / ceiling and the rationale anchored to BATNA / WATNA / litigation expected value; settlement-authority structure — client authority ladder with named decision-maker, authority secured for the session, authority gates above which a phone call is required, presence of insurer / co-defendant / indemnitor / parent company on the authority chain; leverage and weakness candour; impasse-breaker proposals — bracket proposals, mediator's proposal, structured-settlement options, non-monetary terms, escrow / Mary-Carter / Pierringer / high-low arrangements where applicable; confidentiality and release-language preferences); applies a do-not-share audit against the controlling mediation-confidentiality rule (Federal Rule of Evidence 408, Uniform Mediation Act where adopted, state-specific mediation privilege, EU Mediation Directive 2008/52/EC and national transpositions, contractual confidentiality, court-annexed-mediation order); produces a DRAFT brief pair with redaction checklist, settlement-authority worksheet, BATNA / WATNA / ZOPA appendix, dual-audience separation audit, post-mediation execution plan, and an unresolved-information list — for licensed counsel review before any exchange with the opposing party or transmission to the mediator. Never transmits the brief, never represents the client, never decides settlement authority, never opines on the strength or weakness of the case as a binding legal conclusion, never predicts trial outcome as a guarantee, never commits the client to a settlement number, never breaches the mediation-confidentiality privilege, and never substitutes for licensed counsel's judgement.

by @archlab-space (devasher)·MIT-0