Informed Sensible Solutions

Peter Prestley ADR offers Mediation, Arbitration, Ombuds and other third-party neutral services.

My goal is to provide exceptional ADR services that will allow resolution of business-related legal disputes sooner, better, and more cost-effectively.

I bring to my ADR services the experience and expertise I gained in a legal career which featured long periods of time spent in the upper echelons of both the corporate/defense and individual/ plaintiff sides of legal practice. My legal career encompassed more than three decades during which I served The Travelers as its Deputy General Counsel, then as Travelers client-in-residence at the Wall Street law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and finally as a founding partner of the prominent individual-side employment law firm of Madsen, Prestley, & Parenteau LLC.

During that time, ADR was most often the first option for me, and I believe that over the years my clients benefited richly from that approach. I have found that in all facets of my ADR practice my varied background lets me collaborate naturally with all concerned, understand all points of view, and identify common ground that allows matters to resolve fairly and expeditiously. I hope you will consider these qualifications when you are deciding on the choice of a third party neutral.

A Personal Note

More abouT Peter Prestley

Over the decades I have successfully mediated hundreds of matters while representing clients in a wide variety of circumstances. I have found that while most mediations share some common characteristics, best practices vary widely due to the significant number of variables that are often brought to the mediation table. One size does not fit all, and “cookie-cutter” approaches that may reflect habits and preferences of mediators formed in other contexts may impose limitations on what can be accomplished.

In general, I try to pay attention to the particulars of the specific case and be sensitive to the needs and preferences of legal counsel and the parties involved.

In my experience, this adaptable approach often allows the participants to identify and expand possible areas of agreement, and to move towards a meeting of minds sufficient to allow resolution. This approach as a mode of dispute resolution also can provide participants, often with the mediator’s input and guidance, opportunities to fashion sometimes creative and customized solutions that would otherwise typically not be available through litigation.

Process:

Within the approaches described above, the mediation services I offer feature:

Ex-parte pre-mediation discussions concerning the broad parameters of the case;

Collaborative discussions regarding process, including specific preferences and any concerns which the attorneys and their clients may have;

Written summaries within agreed upon boundaries, including previous attempts at resolution;

Conduct of the mediation session, customized and sometimes creatively “evolved” to provide legal counsel and their clients sufficient information and opportunity to arrive at mutually acceptable means of resolution.

If all issues are not settled during the mediation session or sessions, I will typically, at the pleasure of the parties, continue to make tenacious efforts to keep the lines of communication open and to foster continued efforts to close any gaps remaining as long as that remains practical.

Mediation

Services

Peter Prestley ADR offers arbitration services for issues in business-related civil law disputes that either are not settled in mediation, or even as part of a court- based trial, when that makes sense given the overall circumstances. Often the relative ease of scheduling, inherent flexibility of the process, and privacy aspects of arbitration adjudication, make it the best approach for bringing matters to a close.

I believe my background as senior corporate counsel, and on the defense and plaintiff sides of the bar, may well be regarded as significant qualifiers in terms of subject area expertise and neutrality.

Arbitration

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During my decade as Deputy General Counsel of The Travelers, I was often called upon to perform ombuds services with respect to various internal conflicts and issues in a broad array of circumstances. I found that properly deployed, ombuds services can be very helpful in helping to anticipate, address, and ameliorate conditions that create unfairness, disruptions, and disputes.

The ombuds services offered by Peter Prestley ADR are generally offered on a third-party “outside” basis. This status enhances the ombuds process since the “outside” ombuds may be inherently more independent and neutral, and just as importantly, viewed as such.

I also believe that my extensive background including serving as senior corporate counsel, outside defense counsel, and outside plaintiff counsel, informs and balances my perspective, and allows me to naturally navigate obstacles and credibly collaborate with all concerned in such efforts.

Ombuds Services

Mediation

Peter Prestley ADR offers negotiation-related services with respect to business-related civil law disputes, especially in situations where a formal mediation would not be feasible.

In my experience it is remarkable how many legal disputes that end up in litigation could have been resolved by greater efforts and more effective negotiations. For example, when I was at The Travelers a senior lawyer at another major insurer of similar size called me to benchmark his company’s employment litigation caseload. He told me that his company had a docket of 128 employment law matters, and that it had just been rocked by a major adverse class action verdict. I told him that our docket which I controlled had just 8 such matters.

I felt then as now that while court-based litigation certainly has its proper place in resolving civil law related differences, often both sides benefit crucially from early, skilled, and focused negotiations to avoid its disadvantages. Employing an appropriate third-party expert or neutral to assist in advancing negotiations in the right circumstances can be an invaluable and potent tool for lawyers and their clients given the high stakes that often are involved in such matters.

Negotiations

Organizations and their employees, managers, C-level executives, and CEOs all can encounter circumstances presenting problems and disputes that could benefit from effective third-part neutral services. This could include consulting, coaching, and outplacement assistance or a combination of such services.

These situations could include:

relations and obligations - former employer(s) or employees(s);

navigating the hiring process;
career strategies and tactics, including governance and internal political circumstances;
ethics and policy issues;
allegations of improprieties, investigations;
progressive discipline;
compensation issues and opportunities;
employment terminations;
severance negotiations;
wrongful discharge situations;
career counselling;
post-employment counselling and coaching.

Most of these matters involve significant change for organizations and the individuals they employ either in the form of opportunities or perils. Peter Prestley ADR provides guidance and resources to help navigate all of these items appropriately.

Individual and Organizational Consulting and Coaching Services

Consultation and Coaching

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William Martucci
Shook, Hardy, & Bacon LLP
Washington D.C.

"Dealing with Peter is a delight. I just resolved a multi-faceted, sensitive, and volatile matter with him. He is naturally understanding of all points of view and is a master of dispute resolution. All this is done with positive energy and a light touch. His obvious expertise, gravitas, and professionalism reflect his wide and outstanding record of professional accomplishment."

Large company outside counsel
(anonymous by request)

“I had a long and complicated matter representing a large company hiring a new CEO. When asked by the Board what I thought of the new incoming CEO, I told them if you judge the client by her lawyer, in this case Peter Prestley, you couldn’t go wrong.”

Nick Zaino
Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey LLC
New Haven, Stamford, and Waterbury CT

“Peter Prestley…. an experienced, knowledgeable, and very well-respected member of the Plaintiff’s employment bar. Whether representing C-level and Senior Executives in negotiating agreements or protecting employee rights in the workplace, Peter brought a high level of expertise, tenacity, and creativity in getting excellent results for his clients.”