Alternative Dispute Resolution

Reflecting the reality that most litigation settles without a decision by a judge or jury, parties, attorneys and courts have turned to Fineman Krekstein & Harris for its services in alternative dispute resolution.  Our lawyers have been selected as mediators, private commercial arbitrators and appointed as Judges Pro Tempore in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia in resolving cases and settling disputes.

Representative Matters

• Fineman Krekstein & Harris provided mediation services in a matter where a national fraternity owned a chapter house at a local university, which needed significant repairs. The university was willing to pay for renovations but insisted on owning the property, both to justify its investment and to preserve its flexibility for long-range planning. The fraternity refused to surrender control, and the parties were at an impasse. Fineman Krekstein & Harris was called to evaluate the fraternity’s litigation position. After meeting with both sides, Fineman Krekstein & Harris attorneys negotiated the sale of the property to the university for an amount sufficient to complete the renovations, followed by a 30-year leaseback to the local chapter for a rental sufficient to cover operating costs, which the local chapter would have had to pay in any event. Both parties received what they wanted, and avoided a lawsuit.
• A Fineman Krekstein & Harris attorney, serving as a Judge Pro Tempore, conducted a settlement conference in an intra-family dispute over the ownership and value of business assets.  Although the matter began with differences so seemingly intractable that the parties would never meet in the same room during the course of the settlement conference, the matter was successfully mediated to a resolution in a single session.
• A Fineman Krekstein & Harris attorney successfully mediated the resolution of a dispute between a business and an accountant, ending two related accounting malpractice actions between those litigants.
• A Fineman Krekstein & Harris attorney was asked to act as a Judge Pro Tempore at a settlement conference concerning a dispute over a matter in which the Firm attorney had expertise on the key legal issues concerning insurance coverage.   After an initial meeting, at which some progress was made, the Firm attorney continued to hold telephone negotiations over the ensuing weeks with the parties’ counsel, and was able to help the parties reach a settlement approximately one month later.