Engagement

Billed by the day. Prepared the week before.

I bill engagements at a half-day or full-day rate. Pre-mediation calls and post-session follow-up are included. I provide a schedule of fees with the engagement letter.

Engagement structure

I schedule most matters as a single full-day mediation (seven to eight hours) or a half-day mediation (four hours), with an evening or follow-up window held in reserve. Family and governance engagements often run as a series of two- to three-hour sessions over four to eight weeks.

Each engagement letter sets the scheduled hours, the rate at which I bill them, and the rate for any time beyond the scheduled day.

Included in the day rate

One pre-mediation call with each side’s counsel, of up to one hour each.
Reading time for the briefs and exhibits.
The scheduled mediation hours.
Drafting time for the term sheet on the day.
Up to one hour of follow-up per side in the week after the mediation.

Billed separately

Mediation time beyond the scheduled hours, at the agreed hourly rate.
Substantial follow-up engagements, mediator’s proposals, and reconvened sessions.
Travel time and reasonable disbursements where the matter is conducted away from chambers.
Document-management costs for matters with extensive exhibits.

Allocation

By default, parties split fees equally. I accommodate one-party-pays arrangements only where appropriate (for example, employer-pays in workplace matters; carrier-pays in insurance matters), and I disclose them in the engagement letter.

Where the matter is court-ordered and a court fee schedule applies, that schedule governs.

Retainers

For multi-session family engagements, ongoing facilitation, and special-master appointments, I take a retainer at the outset and draw it down against time. I report the retainer balance with each invoice.

Cancellation

Mediation dates are firm calendar holds against which I decline other matters. Cancellation fees apply on the following schedule:

Within ten business days of the scheduled date: half the day rate.
Within five business days of the scheduled date: the full day rate.
Reschedules within these windows are treated as cancellations unless the date moves into a window I can refill.

I reaffirm the cancellation policy in the engagement letter and will adjust it by agreement at intake.

Pricing

I do not publish day rates. I provide a schedule of fees with the engagement letter, after the conflict check completes and the parties have decided to proceed.

If you would like to share the fee schedule with a client before deciding to engage, ask in your inquiry and I will provide it on a pre-engagement basis.

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A note on rate transparency

Why pricing is not on the page.

Day rates for senior private mediators vary with the matter’s complexity, the number of parties, the format, and the date. Publishing a single number invites the wrong inference about the right matter for the practice.

I share the schedule of fees at the engagement step. If you need a sense of range to advise a client before that point, ask in the inquiry and I will return a banded indication.