ARTICLE

What an Expensive Mediator Is For

On the economics of resolving high-value estate and trust disputes: what a premium mediator’s fee actually buys, measured against multi-counsel litigation, a frozen estate, a public record, and the family itself. An estate worth fighting over is an estate worth resolving well.

James W. Fuhrmeister READ THE ARTICLE →

ARTICLE

Why Confidentiality Matters

When a contested estate or trust dispute goes to court, the record is public and stays that way. Why mediation’s statutory confidentiality (Ala. Code § 6-6-20 et seq.) is not a technicality but the whole point — and one of the quiet reasons it serves families, fiduciaries, and institutional trustees better than a courtroom.

James W. Fuhrmeister READ THE ARTICLE →

ARTICLE

Why I Mediate in Person

In probate, estate, and trust disputes the real conflict is rarely only about money. Why these matters are best resolved face to face — reading what goes unspoken, managing grief and long-held family tension, and giving families a path back from litigation.

James W. Fuhrmeister READ THE ARTICLE →

ARTICLE

Early Dispute Resolution as an Alternative to Traditional Mediation

A structured, mediator-led alternative to traditional mediation that resolves civil disputes before, or in the earliest stages of, litigation. A four-step process, the role of the decision tree and risk-adjusted value, and why good-faith participation is the condition.

James W. Fuhrmeister READ THE ARTICLE →