Why mediation works when both sides are actually scared of court

I smell like strong black coffee and the bitter residue of a sixteen hour day spent reviewing financial affidavits. You think you want your day in court. You tell me you want justice. I tell you that your case is currently a sinking ship and the only reason you haven’t drowned yet is that I am still bailing water. I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a deposition because they ignored one simple rule about silence. They thought they could explain their way out of a contradiction. Instead, they handed the opposing counsel a loaded weapon. This is the reality of litigation. It is not a TV drama. It is a slow, expensive, and brutal process designed to exhaust your spirit and your bank account. Mediation succeeds not because of