A: At JAMS, it is not uncommon to work on cases that involve significant sums of money. One such case involved a billionaire. His opposing party was worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It was like a clash of the titans.

The first mediation involved only attorneys. We accomplished some things during that session, but we soon realized the participation of the principals was essential to the negotiations. As part of my solution, I suggested that we reconvene at Joe’s Stone Crab, Miami Beach’s oldest and best-known restaurant. Rather than having a room full of lawyers, I suggested that each principal personally attend with just one attorney – their general counsel or personal lawyer. Everyone agreed and we recessed.

About a month later, we reconvened in a private room in Joe’s Take-Away; and over lunch consisting of colossal stone crab claws and all of the usual side orders, the parties hammered (pun intended) out a deal. It will be hard to top that mediation.