Mediation & Arbitration

Neutral case evaluation, another approach to alternative dispute resolution, is currently identified in New Hampshire Superior Court Rule 30(b) as an alternative to mediation. It is a confidential process that allows the parties to meet with an independent attorney who will give their opinion about the strengths and weaknesses in the case and discuss what might happen if the case were to go to trial. Neutral evaluators can help parties save time and money as they go through the discovery process, and the parties can use the information from the neutral evaluator to enhance their settlement negotiations or assist them in another ADR process, such as mediation. Early neutral evaluation is a variant of this approach, in which the parties submit their cases to the neutral evaluator at a joint session, and the evaluator issues a written evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the parties’ positions and discusses potential outcomes should the case go to trial. Our practice group attorneys are well situated to provide effective neutral case evaluations — their experiences as trial lawyers, appellate advocates, and in the judiciary enable them to gain the confidence of all parties and counsel, and provide a candid evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the parties’ positions.