Commercial Mediation Practice Guide

Ben Picker has an active full-time ADR practice, serving both as a mediator and arbitrator in business disputes, and as a trainer in mediation and negotiations. He has successfully resolved many hundreds of domestic and international disputes with a cumulative value of several billion dollars. He has served as a mediator in complex business disputes in corporate and commercial transactions, asset/stock purchase agreements, securities, employment, environmental, ERISA, intellectual property, health care, real estate, products liability, bankruptcy, construction, class actions, professional liability, and shareholder and partnership disputes. In 2010, Mr. Picker received the American Bar Association’s "Lawyer as Problem Solver Award." He was recognized for his "pioneering efforts to change the landscape of dispute resolution in America." He was similarly recognized for his work in mediation and on behalf of diversity and inclusion by the Pennsylvania Bar Association (the Sir Francis Bacon Award in 2015) and the Philadelphia Bar Association (the PNC Award in 2017). Mr. Picker is a member of the National Panel of Distinguished Neutrals and the Employment Panel of the CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution; a member of the Commercial Mediation (Master Mediator Panel), Arbitration and National Class Action Panels of the American Arbitration Association; a fellow of both the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and the International Academy of Mediators and is certified by the International Mediation Institute. He also serves on the neutral panels of the Singapore International Mediation Center, the Florence International Mediation Center, and the College of Arbitration for Sport (Lausonne, Switzerland). Mr. Picker has served on the Executive Advisory Committee of the CPR Institute, the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the American Arbitration Association, and also chaired the AAA’s National Mediation Committee. He is the author of Mediation Practice Guide – A Handbook for Resolving Business Disputes (Second Edition) published by the American Bar Association Section on Dispute Resolution, and has written numerous book chapters and articles on mediation and arbitration. Mr. Picker is currently a representative of the International Mediation Institute to the United Nations. Mr. Picker was named one of the "Top 100 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers" consecutively since 2004 by a vote of his peers. In addition, he was selected to be included in the 2005-2018 editions of The Best Lawyers in America and was named the Best Lawyers’ Philadelphia Area "Lawyer of the Year" for mediation for 2018 and for four of the past six years. An active participant in the Philadelphia Bar Association, Mr. Picker served as the Association’s chancellor and as chair of the Association’s board of governors, and chair of its judiciary and appellate courts committees. He is a founder and advisory board member of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts and a former member of the Pennsylvania Trial Court Nominating Commission (First Judicial District). Mr. Picker received his B.A. from Temple University, magna cum laude, and his J.D. from Columbia Law School where he served as Executive Editor for the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. bpicker@stradley.com 215.564.8054

Table of Contents:








The Commercial Mediation Landscape
The Decision to Mediate
The Typical Stages of In-Person and Virtual Commercial Mediation
The Role of the Mediator
Negotiation and Mediation – Overcoming the Barriers to Resolution
Preparation
Representing the Client in the Mediation
The Business Executive’s Role in Mediation
Special Topics in Commercial Mediation
Case Studies in Commercial Mediation
Corporate and Law Firm Dispute Prevention and Resolution Strategies
Reflections on How We Got Here