Jump to Navigation

Mediator Services

Experienced Dispute Mediation Services for Business

Dana McDaniel has been named to the INTA Panel of Neutrals. The INTA PON is the world's only international panel of neutral mediators who are both expert in trademark and unfair competition law and trained in the art of mediating disputes.

September 23, 2009 - Dana McDaniel and John Carroll will speak at the 27th Annual Business Law Seminar, presented by the Va. CLE. Their topic is Managing and Resolving Conflicts.

Hugh M. Fain

Dana D. McDaniel 

John Carroll

MEDIATOR SERVICES

Litigation may not be the most effective way for your business to settle a dispute. In addition to our courtroom experience, Spotts Fain is recognized for providing professional alternative dispute resolution, under the direction of attorney Dana McDaniel. Our mediator services are designed to help parties resolve conflicts at the earliest realistic opportunity and, when settlement is not possible, to streamline litigation and reduce litigation costs.

If you have a commercial dispute that is beginning to rise to the level of possible litigation, contact us to schedule a consultation with Dana D. McDaniel.

Contact our offices in Richmond, Virginia, to discuss your dispute resolution needs.

Our mediator services include:

Case Mediation Services: Mr. McDaniel is available to mediate business disputes, particularly those that involve:

  • Intellectual property and vendor/client disputes involving technology issues:
  • Patent law
  • Trademark and copyright infringement
  • Trade secret misappropriation

He brings to the mediation process substantial experience in intellectual property (IP) and technology transactions and litigation and a personal commitment to work with the parties and their counsel as long as it takes for them to identify sensible, workable terms on which to resolve the dispute.

Early Neutral Evaluation and Resolution: In appropriate cases, Mr. McDaniel is available to provide all disputing parties a neutral evaluation of the parties' position in the dispute, with a focus on resolving the dispute before suit is filed or early in the litigation process. In this capacity, he can facilitate frank and open settlement discussions without compromising litigation counsel’s role as zealous advocate. The objective of early neutral evaluation is to help clients resolve disputes before investing significant amounts in litigation.

Discovery and Litigation Conflict Resolution: Discovery is, by far, the most expensive component of most commercial lawsuits. The procedures for resolving discovery disputes in court are cumbersome and largely ineffective. The result is that discovery is often includes a significant amount of irrelevant documents and information and lacks relevant and discoverable materials. Mr. McDaniel is available to mediate or arbitrate discovery and other routine conflicts that arise in complex litigation, thereby, providing the parties an accessible, low-cost and low-risk mechanism for resolving discovery conflicts and avoiding costly discovery motions.

Issues for summary judgment and trial: Mr. McDaniel also serves as a neutral mediator to help parties negotiate other potentially contentious issues such as negotiating fact stipulations and narrowing issues for summary judgment and trial. By serving in this capacity as the case progresses, Mr. McDaniel will be better situated to mediate a settlement of the case at the earliest opportunity.

Contact us to learn more about our mediator services.

August 20, 2010 - Michael Yager, a Legal Assistant in our Litigation Section, will speak at a NALA LIVE! presentation on electronic discovery, "E-Discovery - Slow Down the Train" 

January 27, 2010 - We are proud to announce that Spotts Fain Managing Director, Hugh M. Fain, III has been elected Chair of the Board of Governors of the Virginia Bar Association

December, 2009 - Spotts Fain congratulates our shareholders named in the 2009 Legal Elite list published by Virginia Business magazine.  They are Meade Spotts, Legislative/Regulatory; Hugh Fain, Civil Litigation; Betsy Davis, Labor and Employment; and Dana McDaniel, Intellectual Property. 

December 1, 2009 - Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination - article by Betsy Davis

October 29, 2009 - Betsy Davis spoke on Recent Changes in Employment Law at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys

October 27, 2009 - Spotts Fain presented, Commercial Landlords and Tenants: Planning for and Dealing with Bankruptcy, presenters were Jen West and John Anderson

October 26, 2009 - Comments on President Obama's proposal to increase lending limits on SBA loans, by Tom O'Brien

October 21, 2009 - GINA is Coming - Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act - article by Betsy Davis

Spotts Fain Consulting Practice Areas