It is common knowledge that courts are currently overwhelmed by their caseloads. More often than not, a judge or jury will not determine a civil case until years after the case is filed. This sad fact is the result of a combination of factors -- the enormous number of criminal cases, which carry strict time requirements, the equally large number of civil case filings, and too few judges. In New Jersey State Courts there are currently at least thirty unfilled judicial vacancies at the trial level. The expense of litigating has also increased, not only because of the time involved, but because courts are permitting broader and broader pre-trial discovery, which often results in the production of mountains of paper to be sorted and analyzed. Not surprisingly, private parties are frequently turning to mediation and arbitration, which offer a much more expeditious vehicle for dispute resolution. Arbitrators and mediators are individuals who are knowledgeable in the substantive area of the dispute and who have experience deciding similar issues. H. Curtis Meanor, a former federal and state judge in New Jersey, offers such professional mediation.

Curt Meanor is an experienced jurist who, while on the bench, tried scores of cases without a jury. Curt Meanor's decisions in these non-jury cases were upheld by the appellate courts more than ninety percent of the time. Moreover, cases pending before Curt Meanor did not linger long on the court calendar -- he had a well-deserved reputation for deciding cases not only fairly but quickly as well. Since leaving the bench, Curt Meanor has arbitrated and mediated numerous disputes, ranging from Superfund allocation to medical malpractice to telecommunications to commercial and manufacturing disputes of every shape and size, many of which involve multi-millions of dollars. More than one of the disputes Curt Meanor has mediated involved in excess of one hundred million dollars. Curt Meanor's ability to move a matter to resolution continues to be employed in the mediation setting, where the schedule for the mediation will be fair but also rigorous. As a sign of the respect that Curt Meanor is accorded as a mediator, he receives many of his arbitration and mediation assignments from the American Arbitration Association and JAMS --Endispute, a well-known private alternative dispute resolution company.

If your business goals would be best served by a prompt, efficient, and cost-effective resolution of the dispute, you should consider Podvey Meanor's mediation services.

Attorneys practicing in this area
Curtis H. Meanor
Thomas V. Hildner