Becoming a Better Mediator: Use of mediation vs litigation, with a special emphasis on employment disputes (Including 1 hour of ethics)

Douglas Bregman | Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday, L.L.C

Douglas M. Bregman has maintained a law practice at Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday, L.L.C., in suburban Washington, D.C., for over forty years that focuses on real estate and business transactions; mediation and arbitration; civil litigation; and receiverships, trusts, and estates. Mr. Bregman has been the mediator for hundreds of businesses, employment, and real estate disputes. His success rate in resolving cases is in excess of 90 percent. He has taught mediation skills both in the United States and internationally. He also has been chosen to act as an arbitrator and receiver in many cases, ranging from partnership disputes to construction claims. He has been inducted into the Maryland Chapter of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.

In Mr. Bregman’s real estate practice, he represents buyers, sellers, lenders, developers, property owners, management companies, contractors, landlords, and tenants through all stages of acquisition, disposition, financing, construction, due diligence, leasing, litigation, and management. Mr. Bregman also has substantial litigation experience. He has represented clients in business disputes, employment matters, condemnation cases, contract actions, complex litigation, professional malpractice litigation, personal injury lawsuits, and general civil litigation. He has also testified as an expert witness in various lawsuits before the state and federal courts of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and has been accepted as an expert in real estate, legal ethics, and estates and trusts.

Mr. Bregman served on the Maryland Appellate Judicial Nominating Commission and now is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Maryland Client Protection Fund. He has been a Professor of Negotiation and Mediation Skills at the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution (IIMCR), and since 1993, he has been an Author and Lecturer for the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Law Conference. Mr. Bregman has also served on the faculties of the Georgetown University Law Center (since 1992); Columbia Law School (since 2011), and Howard University Law School (2023). Additionally, Mr. Bregman has authored numerous books and articles and has lectured widely.

Mark Gilday | Bregman, Berbert, Schwartz & Gilday, L.L.C

Mark Gilday has more than 30 years of experience representing clients in complex civil litigation and transactional matters, with a focus on real estate. He is the chair of the firm’s litigation practice group.

Mr. Gilday serves as lead counsel in many of the firm’s most challenging cases, particularly those involving real estate disputes. In his litigation practice, he has represented Fortune 500 and other large companies, commercial real estate developers, commercial property owners, governmental and quasi-governmental entities, real estate investment trusts, energy companies, financial institutions, and a variety of other businesses and individuals. His representative experience includes disputes over commercial real estate, development rights, eminent domain and condemnation, the valuation of real property and real estate assets, construction, leasing, brokerage services, corporate control, contracts, fraud, tortious interference, conversion, defamation, fiduciary duties, and corporate director and shareholder obligations. He has earned numerous dismissals of claims at the initial pleadings and summary judgment stages of litigation in addition to securing judgments in his clients’ favor at trial, on appeal, and in private arbitration.

Mr. Gilday’s transactional practice focuses on commercial real estate matters. He routinely drafts and negotiates construction contracts, commercial real estate broker listing agreements, and property management agreements. He also provides clients with general business advice, and advises with respect to property rights, mechanics’ liens, leasing rights, employment contracts, and day-to-day legal issues.

Mr. Gilday serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the American University Washington College of Law, where he teaches trial advocacy. He has also been an instructor of law in the subjects of legal ethics, torts, and litigation at the University of Maryland, University College. He also previously taught construction contract drafting at TW Perry Contractor College.

Session I – The Use of Mediation | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

• Advantages of mediation over litigation | 1:00pm – 1:15pm
• Developing mediation skills as an attorney | 1:15pm – 1:30pm
• Establishing your client’s mediation goals | 1:30pm – 1:45pm
• Mediator and mediation styles | 1:45pm – 2:00pm

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

Session II – A Practitioner’s Guide to Ethics in Mediation | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

• Ethical obligations of the lawyer to advise the client about the appropriateness and availability of mediation | 2:10pm – 2:20pm
• Ethical obligations of the mediator | 2:20pm – 2:30pm
• Ethical obligations of the lawyer when preparing client for mediation | 2:30pm – 2:40pm
• Ethical obligations of the lawyer during the mediation | 2:40pm – 2:50pm
• Ethical obligations for truthfulness in mediation | 2:50pm – 3:10pm