Please join us on Friday, April 29th for a 90 minute webinar presented by  Pete Palmer and Mark Scott. Mr. Palmer and Mr. Scott will share tips, hints, and insights from a mediator's perspective on how you can have more successful mediations. They will also discuss common mistakes lawyers make as they navigate the mediation process. 
Attendees will earn 1.5 hours Indiana Distance Education Credit. 

Webinar Agenda

1. PREPARING FOR MEDIATION

1. Preparing Your Client

1. Discuss Process in Advance
2. Discuss Authority in Advance
3. Manage Expectations

2. Preparing Your Mediator

1. Mediation Submissions
2. What We Need . . . And What We Don’t
3. Special Concerns

3. Preparing the Other Side

1. Sharing Mediation Statement?
2. Make Sure They Know Your Numbers!
3. Avoid 11^th Hour Document Dumps

4. Preparing Your Lienholders

1. Verify Liens in Advance
2. Notify Them if Reductions to be Requested
3. Have a Contact Person on Stand-By

2. THE MEDIATION SESSION

1. Remote vs. In-Person: A Mediator’s Perspective

1. Does it Matter if the Session is Remote or In-Person?
2. Special Considerations for Remote Mediation
3. Special Considerations for In-Person Mediation

2. Opening Statements

1. Whether to Have a Joint Opening
2. Joint Opening v. Meet and Greet
3. Examples of Effective and Ineffective Joint Openings

3. Negotiations

1. Opening Numbers
2. Making the Best Use of Your Mediator
3. If/When to Use Brackets, and Other Techniques
4. Examples of Effective and Ineffective Negotiation Tactics
5. Our Favorite Mediator-isms

3. QUESTIONS

Originally from Hanover, Indiana, Mr. Palmer graduated from Muskingum College (New  Concord, Ohio) in 1992 and The Brandeis School of Law at The University of Louisville  (Louisville, Kentucky) in 1995. He is admitted to practice law in Indiana and Kentucky and  maintains an active practice in both states. He is the sole member of Pete Palmer Law LLC located in New Albany, Indiana, directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.  

During the early years of his practice (1995-2000), Mr. Palmer worked as an insurance  defense lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky, concentrating on medical malpractice and products  liability matters for various clients. However, in 2000, Mr. Palmer transitioned his practice to the  representation of the injured in a variety of areas. During his 20+ years of legal practice, he has  successfully tried civil cases to verdict in both states, including automobile accidents, products  liability matters, premises liability claims and medical malpractice cases. 

In 2011, Mr. Palmer received the distinction of being named a Super-Lawyer by his peers  for the state of Indiana and has been so recognized each year since. Most notably, he was named  the “2012 Trial Lawyer of the Year” by the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association – the highest award  the association bestows each year. He has also been an “AV” rated lawyer by his peers via  Martindale-Hubbell since 2013. 

In 2014, as a compliment to his litigation practice, Mr. Palmer completed the Mediation Skills Training program at Northwestern University (Chicago) and began serving a mediator in  civil cases in Kentucky and Indiana. His experience on both sides of the courtroom provided a  unique background and skill set which he now uses to help others resolve difficult cases via  mediation. While Mr. Palmer maintains a small and select civil litigation practice, most of his  professional time now involves handling mediations and working to resolve cases for other  litigators. 

In his spare time, Mr. Palmer enjoys Indiana Basketball, photography, tennis and spending  time with his wife, his three children and his two beloved Labrador Retrievers.

Mark A. Scott, founder of Scott Law Office and Mediation Center in Kokomo, Indiana.  Admitted to bar, 1993, Indiana and U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana. Preparatory education: Wabash College (A.B., cum laude, 1989); Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Oxford, England (1988). Legal education: Indiana University (J.D., 1993). Order of the Barristers. Associate Justice, Moot Court Society. Lilly Scholar, United States Senate Youth Scholar, Jump Scholar. Recipient, Indiana Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, 2004; American Jurisprudence Awards in Insurance Law and Administrative Law. Adjunct Instructor: Paralegal Studies, Indiana University at Kokomo, 1996. Author/Presenter: Qualified Offers of Settlement: A Two-Edged Sword, ITLA Seminar (April 1999); Benton v. City of Oakland and its Impact Upon Tort Claims Cases, ITLA Seminar (March 2000); Making the Dog Hunt: Holding Landlords Responsible for Injuries Cause by Their Tenants’ Dogs, ITLA Seminar (March 2001); The Right to Make Inquiries During Voir Dire Regarding Potential Jurors’ Relationships with the Defending Insurance Company, ITLA Seminar (March 2003), also published in Indiana Lawyer, Vol. 12, No. 15 (October 2001), and Verdict, Vol. 24, No. 1 (March 2002); Visibility Issues in Motor Vehicle Collision Cases, ITLA Seminar (August 2003); Apples and Oranges: The Inapplicability of the Wrongful Death Act to Death Claims Under the Medical Malpractice Act, Verdict, Vol. 25, No. 3 (September 2003); Time is on My Side: The Temporal Distinction in the Failure to Mitigate Damages Defense, ITLA Seminar (February 2004); Recent Developments in Tort Law, ICLEF Indiana Law Update Seminar (September 2004 – 2008); Tort Law Update, ITLA Seminar (November 2004– 2009); Defending Plaintiff’s Expert Against Challenges Under Indiana Evidence Rule 702, ICLEF Seminar (January 2005); Relationship of the Medical Malpractice Act and the Wrongful Death Act, ITLA Seminar (March 2005); The Top Five in 2005: Five Cases That Will Change Your Practice, ITLA Seminar (February 2006); Preliminary Procedural Considerations and Recent Case Law Developments in the Law of Medical Malpractice ICLEF Seminar (June 2006); The Inadmissibility of Collateral Source Write-Offs or Discounts, Verdict, Vol. 29, No. 1 (June 2007); Wrongful Death Law in Indiana, ICLEF Seminar (September 2010); Harm Without Recourse: An Analysis of Taele v. State Farm, ITLA Seminar (April 2011); The Best Case I Ever Lost, ITLA Seminar (January 2013); Applied Professionalism, ITLA Seminar (March 2013); Mediation and Settlement, ITLA Seminar (August 2015); Advanced Civil Mediation, ITLA Seminar (April 2017, April 2019); Maximizing Damages by Using Surgical Videos at Trial (ITLA Seminar, May 2019); Valuing & Proving Pain in Personal Injury Cases, ICLEF Seminar (October 2019). Member: Indiana Trial Lawyers Association (President, 2012 – 2013; Board of Directors, 2003 – ; Executive Committee, 2004 – 2014; Chair of Amicus Curiae Committee, 2005 – 2011); American Association for Justice; Howard County Bar Association (President, 1997). Reported Cases: Bagko Development Co. v. Damitz, 640 N.E.2d 67 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994); Green v. Estate of Green, 724 N.E.2d 260 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000); Reed Sign Service v. Reid, 755 N.E.2d 690 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001); Fulton County Comm'rs v. Miller, 788 N.E.2d 1284 (Ind. Ct. App. 2003); McCarty v. Sanders, 805 N.E.2d 894 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004); amicus curiae in Chamberlain v. Walpole, 822 N.E.2d 959 (Ind. 2005); Kocher v. Getz, 824 N.E.2d 671 (Ind. 2005); Vasquez v. Phillips, 843 N.E.2d 61 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006); Indiana Patient’s Compensation Fund v. Winkle, 863 N.E.2d 1 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007); Butler v. Indiana Dept. of Insurance, 904 N.E.2d 198 (Ind. 2009); Stanley v. Walker, 906 N.E.2d 852, (Ind. 2009). 

Practice Areas: Automobile, Motorcycle and Truck Accidents; Wrongful Death; Traumatic Brain Injuries; Burns and Explosions; Construction and Workplace Injuries; Dog Bites; Defective Products; Premises Liability; Civil Mediation.