Practice
Mediation and Arbitration Advocacy
Overview
Where most insurance disputes are resolved
Most insurance disputes resolve at mediation or in arbitration rather than at trial. Jeff Bolender has represented clients as coverage counsel in more than 80 mediations and settlement conferences, and represents clients in private and administered arbitration of insurance disputes.
The firm appears as an advocate for its client. It does not serve as a neutral mediator or arbitrator.
Mediation
Preparing a case for mediation
Mediation briefing
Briefs that frame policy language, claim handling, and bad faith exposure for the people who decide whether to settle.
Coverage issues at mediation
Anticipating and answering coverage positions an insurer raises at the mediation of a claim against its insured.
Policy-limits and excess exposure
Presenting the risk of a judgment above policy limits and the insurer's duty to accept reasonable settlement demands.
Client preparation
Preparing clients for the process, the mediator's role, and the decisions they will be asked to make.
Arbitration
Arbitration of insurance disputes
Many insurance disputes are decided in arbitration under a policy provision, a court order, or an agreement of the parties. The firm prepares arbitration matters as it prepares a trial: discovery, expert witnesses on claims handling and damages, the evidentiary hearing, and post-hearing briefing.
Background
Writing and teaching on mediation
Jeff Bolender wrote “Meeting the Challenges of Raising Insurance at Mediation,” published in the Defense Research Institute's In-House Quarterly (Fall 2010), and prepared presentations on mediation practice in California for the Benjamin Aranda III American Inn of Court.
Important notice
Mediation and arbitration outcomes depend on the facts, the policy, the forum, and applicable law. Reviewing this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.