My first encounter with Richard Strauss as a mediator came as the result of him being recommended by the insurance company. The parties chose him for the most recent mediation at the request of Plaintiff's counsel. Therefore, Richard is unique in that he has the respect of both sides.
My practice areas are mainly in the defense of long term care facilities and medical malpractice. I would not hesitate to use Richard again as a mediator. He really has the long term care cases down to a science. He has the innate ability to understand and appreciate the issues from both sides. It was clear in my recent mediation that he had taken the time to read the pre-mediation packets submitted to him by the parties and was keenly aware of the issues involved. As such, it was not necessary spending multiple rounds in the mediation just to educate him.
Richard is able to objectively analyze the issues and identify risks to both parties. At the end of the day, we were able to settle our case at the mediation. I do not believe this would have been possible without Richard's skills. I look forward to working with him again in the future.
I had the opportunity to use Richard Strauss as a mediator for a long-term care dispute in South Carolina in May, 2015, recommended by our claim representative, who was well-acquainted with Richard's experience in mediating these types of cases.
I found Richard's level of preparation and understanding of the key issues of the case to be outstanding. His competency was aided in no small part due to his extensive background in the long-term care and claim handling field.
Richard's unique approach to mediation was extremely helpful in our case. He proposed, and we accepted, to forego opening statements by either side in order to create a conciliatory environment which was key in resolving our case. Moreover, he had helpful and novel suggestions and tools to bridge a rather large gap between the starting positions of both sides in our case. Finally, and most importantly, he was able to successfully resolve the case at mediation. I would whole-heartedly recommend Richard for any future mediations in the fields of medical malpractice and long term care.