Testimonials
“After many rounds of back-and-forth of selecting a mediator, the parties finally accepted Peter Smith, Esq. to mediate an earnest money deposit dispute between them. Mr. Smith successfully resolved the dispute in a contentious situation, involving culturally diverse parties. During the proceeding, he was respectful and paid close attention to the parties’ concerns, whether such were germane to the dispute at hand. In his doing so, the principals felt that they were heard, which significantly contributed to the ultimate resolution. After the proceeding, Mr. Smith was diligent in his follow-ups to ensure no loose ends would derail the settlement. Having mostly mediated with retired judges, I am pleasantly surprised and impressed by Mr. Smith’s skills and diligence and would not hesitate to recommend him to my other real estate and construction clients to help settle disputes.”
“Peter is tireless, yet easy to work with. He takes time to understand both sides’ positions and their underlying motivations. He also continues to explore solutions even when it appears the parties are at an impasse. We would work with him again.”
“Peter’s demeanor and extensive experience are an excellent combination. He’s a good listener, very level headed and extremely knowledgeable in real estate law and litigation. But he’s not a guy that’s spouting off about how knowledgeable he is. He’s a guy that sits there, and he listens, and he asks questions. In order to get things resolved, you have to first find out where the sides are coming from, where the people are coming from, and that he does very well. Disputants feel comfortable with Peter, which helps a great deal. People trust him. It’s hard to go from the plaintiff to various defendants and communicate with them all and then also have trust with all of them. Usually, you end up with a situation where one party trusts you, and the rest of the parties think you're against them. But Peter really has an ability to work with all the various parties and have them all trust him, and because of that, they all keep going along with him to try and get things resolved.”
“Peter connects quickly with clients. He has a knack for crafting successful mediator’s proposals. The best settlements are when no one is happy. If one side is happy and the other isn't, then it’s not a good settlement. Both sides have to give a little bit, and Peter’s not only good at getting people to an agreement, but he also follows through, and when he does use a mediator’s proposal, it’s usually accepted. He usually finds a space where both sides can agree. They may not like the number, or they may not like the terms, but they can see the wisdom in the proposal.”
“While his easy going demeanor endeared him quickly with the disputants, Peter wasn't shy about getting tough when it was needed. Peter was firm and able to twist arms, but he did it in a palatable way. Sometimes you get mediators who will deliver the bad news, but they'll piss off everybody at the same time, which doesn’t necessarily help out. And then you’ve got a lot of mediators that are kind of everybody’s best friend, but they're not effective at telling the other side, or your client, ‘Look, you've got some real problems here.’ Sometimes you need somebody that bangs people’s heads together. And Peter was kind of in the middle on that, which I thought was really good.”