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Gainesville Mediator Carl Schwait Joins Upchurch Watson White & Max

Carl B. Schwait, formerly senior and managing partner for local law firm Dell Graham, P.A., has joined Upchurch Watson White & Max’s panel, bolstering the mediation group’s presence in North Central Florida. Mr Schwait intends to center his dispute resolution practice geographically along a corridor between Inverness and Lake City, but, like other UWWM mediators, he will travel wherever his clients desire. “I look forward to working with Upchurch Watson White & Max in helping the lawyers and citizens of Florida to settle their cases,” Mr. Schwait says. Mr. Schwait is already well known among attorneys in the Eighth Judicial Circuit (Levy, Alachua, Gilchrist, Union, Bradford and Baker counties); he is serving his sixth term as the circuit’s sole representative to the Florida Bar Board of Governors and has long been active in the local bar association.

Ricardo Cata Moderates, Chairs Program Discussing Mediation Method for Resolving U.S.-Cuba Disputes

On Wednesday, April 13, 2016, I chaired and moderated a program at the ABA’s International Section’s Spring Meeting in New York City, presented by the Mediation Committee of the International Section, titled: “The Role of Mediation in Resolving the U.S. Claims Against Cuba.”

The speakers were: attorney Nancy Thevenin, Principal of Thevenin Arbitration & ADR of New York; James Meyer, Partner at Harper Meyer Perez et al of Miami; and Antonio Martinez, of counsel to the Schwartz Malito firm of New York. The program was heavily attended, and there was significant audience participation by way of questions and comments. We had to stop the questions about 7 minutes after the concluding time for the program.

UWWM’s Brandon Peters Named to UF Self-Insurance Programs’ Panel of Presuit Mediators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (April 14, 2016) – Brandon Peters, who mediates throughout the state with Upchurch Watson White & Max, recently has been named by the University of Florida Self-Insurance Program to a panel of presuit mediators for medical malpractice cases at six participating institutions. Randall C. Jenkins, administrator of five of the six Florida Board of Governors’ self-insurance programs, offers some history, beginning with the J. Hillis Miller Health Center Self-Insurance Program, which dates to 1971 at UF. “It was one of the first, if not the first, of its kind in the United States and set a standard for liability protection in the academic health care setting.” Since then, “Florida has expanded the State University System’s health care education programs to virtually all areas in the Sunshine State. Self-Insurance Programs (SIPs) have been created by the Florida Board of Governors for the Florida State University College of Medicine, the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, Florida International University College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University College of Medicine and the University of South Florida Health Science Center, joining the Self-Insurance Program at the University of Florida Gainesville and Jacksonville campuses.”

ABA Dispute Resolution Section Welcomes U.N. Official and Kicks off Spring Conference With Learning

This morning, attendees of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution’s 18th Annual Spring Conference in NYC heard from Johnston Barkat, assistant secretary-general of the United Nations. Sharing insights from around the world, he spoke of the importance of many of the keys to dispute resolution. Emotional and cognitive intelligence, safe psychological spaces, diversity of thought, and procedural fairness are not only vital to us all as mediators, but also to the transformation of systems. And later, the first of dozens of concurrent learning systems kicked off our three-day day conference.

Ricardo Cata to Moderate ABA Panel Exploring Role of Mediation in U.S. Claims Against Cuba

MIAMI (April 6, 2016) — Mediator/Arbitrator Ricardo J. Cata will moderate an April 13 panel discussion, “The Role of Mediation in Resolving U.S. Claims Against Cuba,” at the American Bar Association Section of International Law 2016 Spring Meeting in New York City. As normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations intensifies, so do the questions surrounding what will happen if individual transactions and longer-term deals go wrong in the future. It was recently addressed by Monika Gonzalez Mesa in a story for the South Florida Daily Business Review. No doubt, it will be hard to overcome history. A summary for Mr. Cata’s upcoming panel explains: The U.S. and Cuban governments are already negotiating thousands of certified U.S. claims against Cuba, “with an estimated value of $8 billion, and three court judgments, with present value of over $3 billion.” In return, Cuba asserts $157 billion in damages from the U.S. embargo and $270 million of assets frozen in U.S. banks.

Dismissal Without Reserving Enforcement Rights May Limit Parties’ Recourse Under Rule 1.730

In a case that just keeps coming back, like a nightmare or a bad penny — depending on your perspective — the Fourth District Court recently weighed in on two “settlement” related subjects that happen every day throughout Florida and elsewhere, without a thought for the potential consequences. First, it reminds us what can happen when counsel signs a settlement agreement or release without clearly indicating his or her capacity or intent. Although not the subject of the opinion, Dandar v Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, No. 2D14-1511, Mar 2, 2016, results from a case in which plaintiff’s counsel became a party to a settlement agreement.