How to Represent Your Client in a Virtual Mediation
The Hon. Emil Giordano (Ret.), a Member of law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., and Co-Chair of its Litigation Law Practice Group, will co-present the webinar, "How to Represent Your Client in a Virtual Mediation," as part of the Northampton County Bar Association (NCBA) Lunch Lectures.
About the Virtual Mediation Webinar
Mediation has become a critical part of every litigator’s dispute resolution toolbelt. Are your skills and knowledge up to date? Judge Giordano, as well as other local attorneys, will explain why effective advocacy in mediation requires much more than a persuasive legal argument. It requires an understanding of the objectives of mediation, familiarity with the mediation process, and well-honed negotiation skills. Designed for civil litigators who may have limited or no experience in virtual mediation, this program will cover the following:
- The decision whether and when to mediate
- Mediating on Zoom Platform
- Selecting a mediator (e.g., mediator style; background)
- Preparing a mediation memo
- Approaching pre-mediation calls with the mediator
- Opportunities and pitfalls of the “joint session”
- Deploying negotiation skills at the bargaining table
- Working productively with the mediator
- Ethical dilemmas in mediation
- How to “follow-up” when the parties are unable to reach a settlement
When: Thursday, May 21, 2020
noon - 1:00 p.m.
Registration: norcobar.org
- NCBA Members admitted before November 1, 2014: $25.00
- All BALC Members: $25.00
- NCBA Members Admitted after November 1, 2014: $25.00
- All other attendees: $40.00
This course is pending approval for one hour of CLE by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
About Judge Giordano
Judge Giordano focuses his practice on estate and commercial litigation, and mediation and arbitration. As an arbitrator and mediator, he is certified through Harvard Law School Negotiation Institute in Advanced Mediation, is a fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, and is affiliated with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Mediation. Judge Giordano serves as an arbitrator and mediator to the Judicial Roster, Real Estate, and Pennsylvania at Large ADR Panels of Distinguished Neutrals for the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution.
For fifteen years, Judge Giordano served as judge for many jury trials and non-jury trials, hearings and motions, and a wide range of disputes under Pennsylvania and Federal Law, including construction, commercial litigation, professional malpractice, CERCLA, Civil Rights, condemnations, labor and land use appeals, criminal, and domestic relations. He served as a presiding judge on the Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County, Third Judicial District, from 2004 through 2018. Judge Giordano was Northampton County’s first administrative Judge of the Orphans’ County Division, overseeing estates and trusts of the county, and was named to the Statewide Orphans’ Court Task Force, an organization charged with implementing changes to Orphans’ Court. He was also the first Judge in Pennsylvania to institute guardianship certification requirements for the protection of senior citizens.
Judge Giordano is Vice-Chair of the Orphans’ Court Procedural Rules Committee for the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He is a Diplomate Member for mediation for the Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, a member of the Board of Governors for Saint Thomas More Society, and a member of the Northampton County Bar Association Wills and Trusts Committee Lecturer. In 2005, Judge Giordano was the first judicial recipient to receive the Lehigh Valley Crime Victims Council Award for Outstanding Commitment to Victim’s Rights. He was also a recipient of the Bethlehem Catholic High School Distinguished Graduate Award.
