Why hire Kelly A. Knight?

Let's talk about mediation.

Any experienced attorney has experienced some or all of the following:

• Within minutes of your mediation starting, you realize that the mediator hasn’t done more than skim your brief and doesn’t understand the real key legal and factual issues in your case. The mediator then does little more than pass numbers back and forth until the session ends unsuccessfully.

• Your mediator tells you before noon that it doesn’t look like a deal can be reached that day, so the mediation is over. You’ve invested your time and money and brought your clients all the way out only to have very little (or nothing) accomplished. 

• The mediator shows no empathy for your human-being plaintiff, who feels chewed up by the unfair system and has not had anyone who can explain what’s happening from an outside, objective lens. Or the mediator shows no empathy for your business-defendant client and its representatives. You and your clients leave without a resolution and feeling worse than when you went in.

• The mediator isn’t on top of the latest developments in the law and hasn’t ever been in the trenches, drafting motions in limine, crafting and arguing jury instructions, and figuring out how issues like the ones in your case could play out at trial. You feel like you're spending much of your time educating a mediator who just doesn't get it.

• You reach an agreement on a monetary amount with enough time left to potentially work toward a full long-form agreement, but the mediator says handle that on your own since your settlement has been reached. The deal then falls apart (or serious concessions have to be made) during negotiations over the long form—the mediator allowed an opportunity for buyer’s remorse or underhanded bully negotiations to disrupt what could have been a final, secured agreement on mediation day.

Say never again to any of this. Expect more. Allow Kelly A. Knight to mediate your case.

Mr. Knight will be prepared. He will be tenacious. If a deal is reached with time left in the day, he will work toward a final long-form agreement with the parties and their counsel.

If a deal truly cannot be reached, as happens sometimes, he will work to achieve meaningful progress, including by helping develop a pathway forward so that the parties have a focused plan that will help them overcome obstacles to resolution as soon as possible. You or your client have paid good money for mediation, and you should expect to come out of mediation with real value. Mr. Knight will follow up with counsel to close a deal or to help the parties get back on track toward resolution.

Defense attorneys: why hire Kelly A. Knight to mediate your case?

Before law school, Mr. Knight was an insurance claims adjuster for a national insurance carrier. Issues with reserves, approvals, disputes over funding, conflicts, etc.? He gets it.

Mr. Knight has been in the trenches on both sides and has had a broad range of litigation experience. He has been a business-owner for many years, and he advised and counseled businesses for years before developing his plaintiff-side practice.

Mr. Knight has also represented plaintiffs for many years. Think about it: who do you want in the other room? It is a powerful tool to have your mediator speak to the plaintiff and to the plaintiff’s counsel from a position of experience representing human-being plaintiffs for years.

And while practicing broadly over the course of his career, Mr. Knight has specifically handled employment and personal-injury matters for years, dealing with the ever-changing law that requires the specialized knowledge you need in a mediator. 

Plaintiff attorneys: why hire Kelly A. Knight to mediate your case?

Mr. Knight has represented plaintiffs in employment and injury cases for many years. He can speak to your plaintiff clients from a position of authenticity and experience. He can understand the true level of harm your client has suffered. He will be able to discuss the realities and risks of litigation in a way that may be impossible for your client to absorb when coming from his or her own attorney.

He has been in your shoes. He has put his time and money on the line for years representing plaintiffs. Chances are, he knows what you are going through and the risks involved. And he can apply all this with a fresh set of eyes on your case to help build a path toward resolution.

And while practicing broadly over the course of his career, Mr. Knight has specifically handled employment and personal-injury matters for years, dealing with the ever-changing law that requires the specialized knowledge you need in a mediator. Have you ever felt like a cutting-edge or nuanced issue of law wasn't being translated properly in the other room, creating a serious obstacle to valuing the case? Come to a mediator who has been living in the trenches for years dealing with those very same issues.