Document Type
Article
Publication Title
New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer
Publication Date
2012
Volume
5(2)
First Page
10
Abstract
(Excerpt)
In the oft-told fable “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” the candid, uncensored observations of a young child that the Emperor’s “new clothes” weren’t clothes at all but actually the emperor’s nudity, freed the rest of the townspeople to finally acknowledge the jarring reality that their the emperor was naked. And so, “The Emperor’s New Clothes” has become a metaphor for having the courage to see things as they actually are, not for what we are incorrectly told they are. In Part One of this column, I began the discussion of how settlement-savvy lawyers might realistically use alternative fee paradigms instead of traditional hourly billing to more accurately and ethically monetize the true value of the settlement skills they bring to clients. Continuing this discussion about more realistic billing paradigms, in Part Two of this column, I discuss how lawyers who serve as mediators and arbitrators might more accurately and ethically monetize “the value added” they bring to parties through creative fee structures, beyond traditional hourly or daily fees. To engage in this discussion, dispute resolution practitioners are encouraged to adopt a more realistic and nuanced perspective about what mediator and arbitrator impartiality actually means in the context of ethical billing paradigms and forgo our long-held, unattainable concept of mediator and arbitrator impartiality.
Comments
Reprinted with permission from the New York State Bar Association.