TechnoLawyer has released TWO-TWO-TWO-EBOOKS IN ONE! (above).

The first EBook, BlawgWorld 2007, contains the best posts chosen by some of the world's top legal bloggers. Though I won't include this blog as one of the "World's Best," I am honored to appear among such Blawg heavyweights as Between Lawyers hosted by long time legal bloggers, Denise (Bag and Baggage) Howell, Dennis (DennisKennedy.Blog) Kennedy, Tom (Inter Alia) Mighell, Marty (The Trademark Blog) Schwimmer and Ernest (Ernie the Attorney) Svenson; Gerry Riskin's Amazing Firms Amazing Practices, Justin Patten's Human Law, Evan Schaeffer's Legal Underground, Arnie Herz's Legal Sanity, J. Craig Williams' May It Please the Court, and John Wallbillich's Wired GC.

The second EBook, TechnoLawyer's Problem Solution Guide, is a compendium of common questions and innovative answers to your most daunting legal-technical questions.

Though I contributed to both EBooks, I'm giving you here my answer to the "problem" -- how do you convene a mediation when the other side doesn't want to talk settlement.  My favorite post -- Rationalizing Numbers, is contained in the E-Book and posted at the IP ADR Blog today.

I urge you to download this free E-Book and puruse it at your leisure over during the course of the following year beore all of today's technology gets replaced by tomorrow's . . . at which point another TechnoLawyer/Blawg World EBook will appear on the web. Isn't that GREAT?

That said, here's the answer to

HOW DO YOU CONVENE A MEDIATION WHEN THE OTHER SIDE DOESN'T WANT TO TALK SETTLEMENT?

There are many reasons you may not wish to initiate mediation. Many lawyers justifiably do not wish to appear overly desirous of settlement. Others are discouraged because their opponents: (a) long ago indicated their client would not consider paying/accepting anything less/or more than $X, which is a non-starter; (b) say they won’t consider settlement until after some key event; or, (c) insist their client will “pay millions for defense but not a penny in tribute.”

The best way to encourage settlement discussions without any loss of face is to agree upon a mediator (or mediation services provider such as Southern California’s Judicate West) at the commencement of the case, authorizing the neutral to suggest mediation at any time without prompting by the parties. This is the general practice in most multi-party construction defect cases, but there’s no principled reason to limit the benefits of this practice to complex litigators.

This strategy permits one party to suggest mediation to the neutral who can then initiate a negotiation session without divulging who, if anyone, sought the mediator’s assistance. Any mediator worth her salt will be trained in and skilled at convening mediations without party pressure.

Some, but not all, mediation service providers also possess these skills. Judicate West’s case managers, for instance, are all skilled professionals with a minimum of five-years experience convening mediations for the parties.

At the commencement of your action, ascertain whether a neutral or ADR service provider in your locale specializes in the art of convening. A service provider like Judicate West will often know more about your opposition than you do, particularly in large legal markets like Southern California where you may well not “do business” with your opponent on more than one occasion.