Bad economy a boon for pre-suit mediation?

Last year I asked whether more litigation = more mediation? (and at the risk of being an I told you so, pointed out in January 2008 that the light you could see at the end of that annual tunnel was a train, stupid)

Here's one take for January 2009; Bad economy a boon for pre-suit mediation?

"With the economy crimping corporate legal spending, Allen Smith, a partner with the law firm SettlePou in Dallas, has noticed that clients are more receptive to early mediations of commercial disputes"