Friday, April 3

Selling ice to eskimos

A real smart short practice article from niche PI mediator, Philip Hesketh over at The Mediator Magazine;

Box Clever: Marketing Mediation to Personal Injury Lawyers - Personal Injury lawyers do not have a dispute resolution problem. They have been resolving disputes for years. They get results. ....Negotiation, backed up with litigation and trial if necessary.

I think it is probably a waste of time and effort attempting to persuade Personal Injury lawyers to try mediation as a method of dispute resolution. They don’t need it.

Personal Injury lawyers do however have a problem with profitability. They only get paid some months after the case has settled. They carry expensive disbursements. They are taxed on work in progress. It is lock up and it is a real problem... [read more]

1 comment:

michael webster said...

Geoff;

I read the entire article, and while I agree with the premises, I don't think that the conclusion follows.

Typically, when a plaintiff's attorney deals with an insurance company they are only dealing with the claims department.

So the value of integrative deal is missed: after the settlement, the money in the plaintiff's hands has to be used to provide for services; services which the insurer could have provided cheaper had more than the claims department been involved.