Bill- I thought you might relay the story of our botched mediation with the court-appointed mediator:

After each party made their 5-minute opening statements, the mediator caucused with the defendant for about 10 minutes. He then announced to the plaintiff that the mediation was an impasse, because the Defendant denied liability. No demand was made and no offer had been made. Plaintiff filed a Motion for Sanctions for defendant’s failure to make a good-faith offer. The court reserved on sanctions, but directed the parties to re-mediate.

I am actually mostly disappointed in the court- appointed mediator, because he obviously didn’t do his job. This is demonstrated by the fact that as soon as the M/Sanctions was filed, the defendant tendered an offer, and 2 weeks later, another mediator was able to get the case resolved. And, of course, the defense counsel’s lack of experience was a big factor too, since most other attorneys would at least have tendered a nominal offer to avoid the motion.