 |
|
|
PROFILE Since
2001, Alan Dowling has served as a mediator in private/contractual and
court-ordered mediation of civil disputes, with focus on copyright,
trademark, contractual, right of privacy and publicity, idea
misappropriation, defamation, cyberlaw, business tort, corporate and
partnership matters, particularly in the context of the music recording,
music publishing, motion picture, television and literary fields In
2001-2003, and since 2005, Mr. Dowling has also served as a
court-selected and approved volunteer mediator on the Attorney
Settlement Officer Panel of the United States District Court for the
Central District of California. The
Attorney Settlement Office Program (“A.S.O.P.”) governs the elective
and mandatory referral of certain actions for settlement conferences
with a neutral member of a settlement panel appointed by the Court.
Beginning in 2001, the District Court found that the substantial
increase in the filings of criminal and civil cases in the Central
District, together with the adoption of Congressional requirements for
the priority scheduling of criminal trials and the shortage of Judges in
the District, placed significant pressures on litigants, counsel, and
the Court. The purpose of the attorney settlement program is to
alleviate some of these pressures and to encourage the fair, speedy, and
economical resolution of controversies by allowing parties to submit
their cases to an impartial Attorney Settlement Officer who is
experienced in one or more designated areas of law and/or in the
processes of alternative dispute resolution.
(USDC, CD CA, General Order 04-01, 05/26/04, Section 1.1-1.3.) Mr. Dowling has received extensive mediation training, including completion of courses with the nationally-renowned Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law, and he has been awarded Certificates in “Mediating the Litigated Case/Mediation: The Art of Facilitating Settlement,” 2002, and "The Advanced Mediators Forum" [Advanced Mediators Training), 2003. TO
SCHEDULE A CASE Please
(1) call Alan Dowling at 818-679-6395 (cell) or (2) communicate your
request by email addressed to agdowling@aol.com.
When you do so, please be sure to include (if possible at that
time) your personal and firm name, address, phone and fax numbers and
email address, the case name, court and case number (assuming it is a
pending litigation matter), any significant upcoming deadline dates
(mediation completion date, pretrial conference, status conference or
trial dates, for example), a list of all parties and their counsel, and
whether you are arranging mediation under the Attorney Settlement
Officer Program (A.S.O.P.) of the U.S. District Court for the Central
District of California. MEDIATION
FEES
Amount in Non-A.S.O.P. Private
Mediations Before Mr. Dowling
The fees for non-A.S.O.P.
mediation with Mr. Dowling are $2,000 for an estimated one-half day (up
to four hours in mediation session) or $3,500 for an estimated full day
(unlimited time on the date scheduled). Fees for the initial estimated
time (either one-half day or a full day) must be deposited in advance,
no later than fourteen (14) days prior to the date initially scheduled
for the mediation, and may not be refunded if a mediation is canceled or
taken off calendar within fourteen (14) days of the final scheduled
date. There are no administrative fees or other similar charges.
Both half and full-day rates include reasonable preparation time
(for example, setting up and convening the mediation, communicating with
the parties regarding the basic facts and contentions and their
respective positions, and reviewing the parties’ briefs, if any, in
advance of the mediation itself) and telephone follow-up, as
appropriate. If the mediation takes place at a location other than Mr.
Dowling’s office, and more than half an hour’s travel time away from
his office, travel time in excess of one hour round trip will be
charged. If the mediation
is to take place outside Los Angeles County, fees may be higher, and
will be specially quoted and agreed to in advance, in writing.
Should the mediation proceed in such a manner that additional
periods of time are expended by Mr. Dowling, such time shall be
calculated in minimums of one-fifth (1/5)
of an hour and billed for at appropriate intervals.
All fees shall be allocated to the different “sides” involved
in the case on an equal basis, pro rata, and shall be computed at Mr.
Dowling’s ordinary rate at Mr. Dowling’s ordinary rate applicable to
private mediations, that is, $395 per hour.
Any such charges shall be billed to the parties through their
respective counsel of record, who shall be liable to Mr. Dowling, along
with their respective clients, for the payment thereof with fifteen (15)
days of being billed, and who guarantee such payment. Amount
in Federal Court Central District of California “A.S.O.P.”
Mediations Before Mr. Dowling In
matters in which Mr. Dowling has been assigned or selected (and has
agreed) to participate as mediator pursuant to the Attorney Settlement
Officer Program of the United States District Court for the Central
District of California, to which Mr. Dowling provides his services on a
limited voluntary basis, there shall be no charge for a reasonable
amount of time spent in advance of the mediation itself arranging the
mediation, communicating with counsel in advance thereof, and obtaining
and reviewing any briefs, pleadings and other relevant background
information which Mr. Dowling might request.
As for the mediation itself, Mr. Dowling’s services shall
likewise be free of charge for the first three (3) hours (and if a
settlement is reached and a reasonable amount of additional time is
required thereafter in order to conclude the mediation, any such
additional time after the first three (3) hours may also be free of
charge, as and to the extent determined in Mr. Dowling’s sole
discretion). Thereafter, in
so far as the time expended by Mr. Dowling on the mediation exceeds the
foregoing limits, such time shall be calculated in minimums of one-fifth
(1/5) of an hour and billed
for at appropriate intervals. All
fees shall be charged to the different “sides” involved in the case
on an equal basis, pro rata, and shall be computed at Mr. Dowling’s
ordinary rate applicable to private mediations, that is, $395 per hour.
Any such additional charges shall be billed to the parties
through their respective counsel of record, who shall be liable to Mr.
Dowling, along with their respective clients, for the payment thereof
with fifteen (15) days of being billed, and who guarantee such payment.
If the mediation takes place at a location other than Mr.
Dowling’s office, and more than half an hour’s travel time away from
his office, travel time in excess of one hour round trip will be
included in the calculation of time devoted to the mediation.
If the mediation is to take place outside Los Angeles County,
fees may be higher, and will be specially quoted and agreed to in
advance, in writing. MEDIATION
BRIEFS All
briefs are requested to be delivered to Mr. Dowling no later than five
(5) business days before the date scheduled for the mediation, and it is
requested that they be sent by email to agdowling@aol.com
with the brief itself being an email attachment capable of being
received and viewed using MS Word 2000). Confidential
Mediation Briefs – Non-A.S.O.P. Private Mediations Before Mr. Dowling Mediation
briefs are recommended, and will greatly assist Mr. Dowling in grasping
the key issues to be addressed at mediation. It is therefore requested
that in private (non-A.S.O.P.) mediations each counsel submit to Mr.
Dowling a confidential brief (NOT to be
exchanged with opposing counsel) prepared on
line-numbered pleading paper and captioned if the matter is in pending
litigation, setting forth, in less than ten (10) pages if at all
possible, the following information: 1.
Identification of the parties, their relationship with each other
(if any), and their respective role in the underlying 2.
Introduction of counsel (you are welcome to attach a CV or the
like to the brief); 3. Concise listing and description of the parties’ respective claims or defenses
(please do not send or attach complaints, answers and the like
unless requested); 4.
Description of the relief or judicial outcome sought; 5.
Statement of what the submitting party believes to be the real
issues remaining to be resolved through mediation; 6.
Concise summary of arguments or unusual legal authorities
pertinent to the real issues remaining to be resolved; 7.
Concise history of any previous settlement negotiations and
positions among any of the parties; 8.
Submitting party’s expectations of their opponent’s likely
opening offer at mediation, and their opponent’s likely 9.
Submitting party’s assessment of the strengths and weaknesses
of their opponent’s case/position(s); 10.
Submitting party’s intended opening offer at mediation, and
likely “bottom line” position; 11.
Submitting party’s assessment of the strengths and weaknesses
of their own case/position(s); 12.
Identification of any obstacles to settlement. Of
course, you are free to add anything else you think would be helpful to
Mr. Dowling in assisting the parties to reach a resolution of their
dispute. “Exchanged”
and “Confidential” Mediation Briefs – A.S.O.P. Mediations
Before Mr. Dowling In
A.S.O.P. mediations, briefs are recommended. Generally, the best
practice is for all counsel to consider preparing a non-confidential
brief to be exchanged with opposing counsel, and then to submit a
supplemental confidential brief to be provided only to Mr.
Dowling. The non-confidential brief, to be exchanged with
opposing counsel, should be prepared on line-numbered pleading paper and
captioned if the matter is in pending litigation. The supplemental confidential
brief should be prepared on counsel's letterhead. (This helps the
mediator readily distinguish between what is disclosed and what is meant
to be confidential.) Its contents should be such as to cover the confidential
issues outlined above for private mediations.
Mr. Dowling recommends that each side’s client be
provided with each opposing counsel's non-confidential brief, as well as
their own non-confidential and confidential briefs, in advance of the
mediation, so that the client can be prepared as well as possible to
discuss the concerns which are likely to arise at the mediation. All
briefs—both the exchanged non-confidential brief and the confidential
brief—should be less than five (5) pages in length if possible, and
are requested to be delivered to Mr. Dowling no later than five (5)
business days before the date scheduled for the mediation (and delivery
may be either by mail, personal delivery, or fax, or by email attachment
capable of being received and viewed using MS Word 2000). All
mediations taking place under the auspices of the A.S.O.P. will be
conducted in accordance with General Order 04-01, Sec. 1 (eff.
05/26/04), of the United States District Court for the Central District
of California, as the same may be amended or augmented from time to
time, and which can be reviewed and downloaded at the Court’s website,
http://www.cacd.uscourts.gov. ATTENDANCE
AT THE MEDIATION Mr.
Dowling recommends that, before the mediation, counsel discuss their
plans regarding who will, and who will not, be attending in person at
the mediation. Generally, mediations work best when more, rather than
fewer, people attend and it is particularly important that all persons
whose approval is necessary for a settlement be present or otherwise
immediately available. In some instances, where the mediation is
court-ordered, local rules may expressly dictate who must be in
attendance. If someone
(such as an executive with an insurer, whose approval is needed as to
amount or settlement terms) is to be available only by telephone,
please so indicate as far in advance as possible, and indicate their
location (as time zone differences affecting their accessibility may
also therefore affect the timing of the mediation itself).
The structure of the mediation (including the sequence and timing
of joint sessions, private caucuses and attorneys-only caucuses) can be
adjusted to meet the needs of the participants. Mr. Dowling is available
for pre-mediation telephone consultations and conference calls to help
with any questions that may arise in this process. MEDIATION
AND CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
At
the beginning of the mediation (regardless of whether it is private or
A.S.O.P.), all participants will be requested to sign Mr. Dowling’s
Mediation and Confidentiality Agreement, a copy of which can be
downloaded in PDF form, below: In
A.S.O.P. mediations, if the mediation session exceeds the initial three
(3) voluntary hours, the participants will be required to sign Mr.
Dowling’s A.S.O.P. Mediation Fee Agreement, a copy of which can be
downloaded in PDF form, below: |
|
© 2006 -2007 Alan G. Dowling – All Rights Reserved – See “Disclaimers and Notices” |
