Mediation Briefs
Polina spends substantial time preparing for each mediation and well written and thought-through mediation briefs are critical to the process. The following are some important guidelines to consider in preparing your mediation brief.

Deadline
Briefs should be received at least seven days prior to the mediation. The time involved in preparing in advance of the mediation cannot be overstated. The mediator cannot be adequately prepared to help you resolve the case if you provide the mediation brief at the last minute. Polina will sometimes reach out in advance of the mediation with one or more of the parties to request additional information or legal briefing in support of various claims. This is an important part of the process and is not possible to do if the mediation briefs are not received well in advance of the mediation.

Content
Please include the following information in your mediation brief:

• A concise chronology of events at the outset of the brief setting out the relevant events in the case, starting from hire through the end of employment. This chronology can be fleshed out in more detail within the later portion of the mediation brief.
• The procedural history of the case, including any trial or motion for summary judgment hearing dates.
• A detailed description of the facts and the claims.
• An analysis of the key strengths and weaknesses of each party’s position.
• A detailed damages analysis, including support for any claimed emotional distress damages.
• An account of any prior settlement negotiations.
• Relevant exhibits, including any relevant supporting declarations and the relevant pages from any deposition transcripts you are relying on in your brief with the relevant portions of the transcripts highlighted for ease of reference.
• There is no need to include boilerplate case sites for basic employment law concepts that an experienced mediator is already familiar with, such as the legal definition of a disability under FEHA, standard for proving retaliation under FEHA, and statutory definitions of Labor Code Sections 1194, 203, 226.7, etc. However, to the extent you do cite to any case law or statute, please include substantive parentheticals in support of the legal argument you are making.

If you are providing lengthy and/or numerous exhibits, please send via express delivery a hard copy of your brief with exhibit tabs for ease of reference.