Wills and Estate

Wills and estate mediation and arbitration are processes that can assist both individuals and organizations resolve disputes that might occur regarding an inheritance or the validity and interpretation of a will after someone has passed away.

Sometimes, wills and estate conflicts arise when minors, adult children, spouses, or other family members have been left out of a will or otherwise disinherited.

Sometimes, the dispute can relate to someone’s concerns about either a family member or an outside third party having unduly influenced or coerced the deceased person into making or modifying a will, against their wishes.

Or, sometimes, conflicts between the beneficiaries and/or disinherited parties to an estate can arise out of fears that the deceased party, (the “testator”), might not have been of sound mind, or might lack or otherwise not have the necessary mental capacity to create a valid will.

Regardless of the reason(s), all of these wills and estate disputes can be deeply troubling, extremely private, and highly personal and emotionally taxing for all concerned.

In addition to this very high emotional expense, the actual out-of-pocket financial costs, resulting from challenging a will or pursuing some other form of legal dispute to an estate, are usually paid directly from the estate itself and, ultimately, this can significantly erode the amount of assets and money that is left to be paid out to the final beneficiaries.

By using mediation or arbitration to resolve challenges and disputes relating to the will or estate of a deceased family member or friend, beneficiaries can sort through all these legal and emotional challenges in a 100% confidential and private forum, that is also both considerably faster and significantly less expensive than proceeding via the court system.

Thankfully, our highly professional and experienced mediators are here to help.  Whenever and however you need it.

Contract & Commercial Disputes

In life, we frequently make plans and agreements that can ultimately become legal agreements, known as contracts. Unfortunately, however, some of our best laid plans don’t always work out exactly as we planned.  For any number of reasons, contracts are made and then broken.

We might have thought there was a complete and unanimous understanding between the parties when, in fact, there was not.  Or perhaps two people initially had the same goals when entering into an agreement, but later the circumstances changed. Things that were first believed to be clear between the parties, suddenly become unclear. Sometimes the definitions and understandings of the contractual language itself can be the cause of the conflict.  Sometimes, the contractual terms and conditions are interpreted differently by each of the parties, or there is some other confusion about their intent or meaning.

In any of these circumstances, the parties can experience significant difficulties resolving their differences on their own. When this happens, the parties to a contract have several options available to them.  The most common methods to resolve a contract dispute are:

Mediation

The highly skilled mediators at ClearView Conflict Resolution have significant training in negotiation techniques, effective listening, and the ability to articulate and restate the positions of the parties in a way that will help guide them towards a resolution that is can be highly satisfying for all concerned. Our mediators do not personally determine a resolution to the matter, but rather assist the parties to craft their own solutions.

Mediation sessions can be done entirely online, (e.g. via Zoom, MS Teams, etc.), or can be held in person at a mutually agreeable, neutral location. The parties to a dispute may attend the mediation session on their own, or with their own lawyers either physically present or available for consultation via telephone, (or otherwise), as the mediation process unfolds. Any agreement or understanding that is reached by the parties at the end of the mediation session can then form the basis of a new, revised, or additional contract between the parties that, if necessary, can also be enforced by a court.

The main advantages to mediation, in lieu of proceeding with a lawsuit in court, is that the overall cost is usually significantly less than what the parties would spend in the court process.  Mediation also tends to be a much faster process, avoiding the significant courtroom scheduling backlogs that currently exist.  It also tends to be a much more focused process, allowing parties to focus and resolve their disputes in a much less time-consuming process.

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages to mediation is that, instead of having a third-party judge or arbitrator determine the outcome of a dispute, (regardless of whether you agree with that solution or not), the parties involved play a direct role in the resolution of their own disagreement.  Not only does this allow the parties to be very creative in finding solutions that fit their particular circumstances, (which might not otherwise be available to a judge pursuant to the law and a strictly legal interpretation of the dispute), but it can also help to preserve a much better working relationship between the parties.  In addition, mediation offers 100% privacy and confidentiality, which is not the case when matters are presented, argued, and determined in an “open-to-the-public” courtroom setting.

Arbitration

Arbitration is slightly different than the mediation process because, instead of having the parties work out their own solution to a disagreement via the processes set up by the mediator, at the end of the arbitration process, it is the arbitrator who makes all the final decisions about how the dispute will ultimately be resolved. And, in most cases, the decisions made by the arbitrator are both final*, (meaning that they cannot be appealed), and legally binding, (meaning that they can be fully enforced by either the parties themselves, or with the assistance of a judge or some other officer of the court).

In many ways, arbitration is very similar to regular courtroom litigation, except that instead of leaving the decision making to a public court judge, you are hiring a specialized arbitrator who may have some specific knowledge about your particular dispute, and who essentially acts as a “private judge.”

Arbitration has the same advantages as mediation, (as compared to open‑court litigation), in that it generally allows the parties to focus their efforts into a much more time efficient and considerably less expensive dispute resolution process.  Like mediation, arbitration is also 100% private and confidential.

(*it is possible for the parties to agree, ahead of time, that any/all of the decision(s) of an arbitrator can be appealed to the court, or via some other process, however this is somewhat unusual.)

Traditional Litigation

Ultimately, the court system is always available to all who have a contract dispute, or any other type of legal problem – provided, however, that they are also willing to pay the necessary costs and expend the time required to do so.  Usually, it is to the parties’ significant advantage to attempt to resolve their differences outside of court, however this is not always possible.

In instances where other, less formal methods, such as mediation and arbitration, have been attempted and have failed, litigation may be the best and/or only solution remaining. While considerably more time-consuming and costly, open-court litigation can be the best option for parties who have highly technical or complicated matters, or where it simply is neither safe nor feasible to resolve them in another way.

The options for contract dispute resolution can be as different and varied as the personalities, interests, and goals of the parties seeking the resolution. What might be best in one situation, given the facts and circumstances, might not necessarily be best in another.

Regardless of what circumstances you find yourself in, if you are involved in a commercial or contract dispute, the highly qualified mediators and arbitrators at ClearView Conflict Resolution are here to help.  We can also assist you at any stage of the dispute process, including in circumstances where the courtroom-based litigation process has already started.

We are here to help.  Whenever and however you need it.

Media & Entertainment

Certain legal areas lend themselves particularly well to mediation and arbitration. Intellectual property/entertainment matters are at the top of the list of practice areas for which mediation and arbitration is ideally suited.  As courts become more and more backlogged with cases, and as the financial stakes in litigation have grown increasingly larger, so too has the need for quality mediation and arbitration conflict resolution mechanisms.

Film and media disputes also demand special legal expertise as well as industry and market know how.  The importance of secrecy and privacy, the need for expertise and the flexibility that mediation and arbitration offers are three reasons why intellectual property and entertainment practitioners should use mediation and arbitration as much as possible.  Every time a lawsuit is filed, it becomes public record.  Reporters scour the case filings for interesting cases to report.  Parties can avoid this unwanted publicity by agreeing to participate in a pre-filing mediation.  If successful, the case is never filed, the facts remain confidential, and the parties reach a business-like resolution while saving a substantial amount in lawyers’ fees.  Because many parties often have ongoing relationships to preserve, an early resolution is also likely to maintain that important relationship.

Potential users of our mediation and arbitration experts include film makers, directors, actors, performers, guild and industry associations, producers, authors, screenwriters, creators, investors, financiers, film funds, performance bond companies, insurers, sales agents, entertainment, media and IP lawyers consultants and accountants, distributors, broadcasters, exhibitors, publishing houses, trade federations, collecting societies, users of creative material.

Areas of dispute in the film and media sectors include:

• production and co-production agreements
• joint-ventures
• collecting societies
• copyright related agreements
• financing agreements
• distribution agreements
• broadcasting agreements
• completion bond agreements
• laboratory-access agreements
• funding agreements
• development agreements
• licensing
• music synchronization agreements
• merchandising agreements
• insurance agreements
• artist and talent agreements
• new media agreements
• sponsorship agreements
• co-ownership agreement
• confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements
• TV and other media formats

Regardless of what circumstances you find yourself in, if you are involved in a film, television, media, or entertainment law dispute, the highly qualified mediators and arbitrators at ClearView Conflict Resolution are here to help.  We can also assist you at any stage of the dispute process, including in circumstances where the courtroom-based litigation process has already started.

We are here to help.  Whenever and however you need it.