Commercial mediation for business disputes — at a fraction of retired-judge rates.

What is commercial mediation?

Commercial mediation is a confidential, facilitated negotiation where a neutral third party helps business disputants reach a voluntary settlement without court or arbitration. The mediator has no authority to impose a decision — the parties remain in control throughout.

Mediation sits between direct negotiation and adjudication. Direct negotiation often stalls when the parties have entrenched positions, accumulated grievance, or asymmetric information. Litigation and arbitration produce a winner and a loser on someone else's timetable — and usually cost more than the dispute itself. Mediation gives the parties a structured, confidential forum, with a neutral who can test positions, reframe issues, and broker terms that a court never could — ongoing commercial arrangements, non-cash consideration, tailored release language, face-saving structures, payment mechanics, and other creative solutions that get disputes actually resolved.

Approximately seventy percent of commercial mediations settle on the day of the session. Another ten to fifteen percent settle within the following two weeks. For the minority that do not settle, the process is still useful: it substantially narrows issues, clarifies positions, and often compresses the timeline and cost of any subsequent proceeding.

Types of disputes I mediate

This practice mediates commercial disputes — not real estate or employment matters. The common thread: disputes where deal-structure fluency and transactional law expertise produce a better result than a pure litigation-risk evaluation.

• M&A post-closing disputes. Earnout calculation disputes (EBITDA, revenue, or working-capital-based metrics); working capital adjustments and purchase-price true-ups; representation and warranty indemnification claims; escrow release disputes; fraud and seller-disclosure disputes; covenant-not-to-compete and non-solicit disputes tied to a deal.
• Partnership disputes. Profit-sharing and distribution disputes; operational and management disagreements; deadlock; dissolution and wind-down; partner buyout valuation; fiduciary-duty claims among partners.
• Shareholder disputes. Minority-shareholder oppression and freeze-out claims; buy-sell agreement disputes; valuation disputes; 7-2-1 / appraisal-rights disputes in connection with mergers; shareholder derivative claims; disputes over voting, dividends, or board composition.
• Founder and co-founder disputes. Equity-split renegotiation; vesting and cliff disputes; separation and exit-term negotiations; founder departure and transition; cap-table and dilution disputes; intellectual property ownership disputes between founders.
• IP and licensing disputes. Royalty calculation and under-reporting claims; scope-of-license disputes; licensing breach; joint-ownership and improvements disputes; trademark coexistence disputes tied to a commercial arrangement.
• Joint venture disputes. Contribution and allocation disputes; governance deadlock; exit-right and put/call disputes; breach of JV agreement terms.
• Commercial contract disputes. Vendor, customer, supply, and distribution contract disputes; services agreement and statement-of-work disputes; breach and damages claims between commercial counterparties with ongoing business relationships.
• Fund-related disputes. LP/GP disputes; waterfall calculation disputes; management-fee and carry disputes; side-letter interpretation and enforcement; limited partnership governance disputes.

Why hire an attorney mediator with a transactional background?

Most commercial disputes turn on deal structure, not litigation risk. An attorney mediator who has drafted and negotiated the underlying instruments produces faster, more commercially sensible resolutions than a retired judge whose expertise is in courtroom dynamics.

Retired judges are excellent at assessing litigation risk — how a similar case would play out in front of a bench. That skill matters most in personal injury, insurance, and general civil litigation, where the central question is often "what would a court likely do here." In those categories, retired-judge mediators are often the right fit, and they command retired-judge rates ($600 to $1,000+ per hour; elite names $1,000 to $2,000+) accordingly.

Commercial and transactional disputes are different. The central questions are usually structural and economic: what did the purchase agreement's working capital definition actually require; what is the buyer's obligation under the earnout operating covenants; what's the fair-market value of a partner's interest under the buy-sell provisions; how should the earn-out milestone be measured given an interim reorganization. These questions are answered by deal-structure literacy, not bench experience. A mediator who has spent a career drafting purchase agreements, operating agreements, shareholder agreements, licensing deals, and joint venture documents can quickly identify what the commercial deal actually called for, where the drafting is ambiguous, and how similar disputes typically resolve in the market.

Roby Yadegar trained in transactional practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Latham & Watkins; and Katten Muchin Rosenman — three of the firms that set the standard for U.S. corporate and M&A work. He has been mediating commercial disputes alongside his transactional practice since 2011, and brings that same deal-fluency to mediation sessions. The result: commercial parties get a mediator who understands their contracts from the inside out, at a fraction of retired-judge cost.

The mediation process, step by step

Most commercial mediations follow the same five-step arc: engagement, pre-mediation preparation, joint opening session, private caucus rounds, and settlement drafting. From first call to mediation day is typically two to six weeks.

1. 01Engagement and scheduling. The parties (often through counsel) reach out, confirm the mediator is conflict-free, execute a short mediation agreement, and schedule the session. The administrative fee ($350) is paid at engagement; session fees are due before the mediation day.
2. 02Pre-mediation statements and call. Each side submits a confidential mediation statement (typically five to ten pages) covering facts, legal theories, commercial stakes, and resolution ranges. Two hours of preparation on the mediator's side are included in the day rate. A pre-mediation call with counsel is standard.
3. 03Joint opening session. On the mediation day, the parties and counsel meet (virtually via Zoom with breakout rooms, or in person) for a brief joint session. Each side presents a short opening; the mediator frames the day's agenda and the issues in dispute.
4. 04Private caucus rounds. The bulk of the day is the mediator shuttling between rooms, testing positions, stress-testing valuations, identifying common ground, and proposing frameworks. This is where deal-structure expertise earns its fee — caucus work is often substantive drafting in real time.
5. 05Settlement drafting and execution. When the parties reach agreement, the settlement terms are reduced to writing and signed before the session ends. Under California Code of Civil Procedure § 664.6, a signed mediation settlement is enforceable by motion — there is no need to sue again to enforce the deal. For sessions that don't settle on the day, the mediator continues to facilitate in the following weeks; many commercial mediations close two to ten days after the session through follow-up.

Rates & engagement

$500 per hour · $2,000 per half-day (up to four hours) · $4,000 per full-day (up to eight hours) · $350 administrative fee at engagement. No hidden case-management surcharge.

Cancellation policy

• 30+ days before session: full refund, minus the $350 administrative fee
• 14–30 days before: 50% of session fee plus $350 administrative fee forfeited
• Fewer than 14 days, or day-of: 100% of session fee forfeited

Coverage & availability

Based in Beverly Hills, California. In-person sessions across greater Los Angeles and California. Virtual sessions anywhere in the United States.

Virtual mediation via Zoom (with full breakout-room structure for private caucuses) has become indistinguishable in outcome from in-person mediation for commercial disputes, and is usually materially cheaper for the parties. We will recommend in-person when the dispute genuinely benefits from it — typically when there are multi-party dynamics, significant relationship-repair objectives, or when one or more decision-makers strongly prefer face-to-face. Otherwise virtual is the default.

We accept mediation engagements from counsel, directly from parties, and via referral from other mediators and counsel when there is a conflict on their side.