About Halpern Mediation
M. David Halpern started mediating cases in the mid-90s.The court system in his home county in Pennsylvania was a leader in implementing mediation as an integral part of the trial process, and David was one of the first to participate.
By way of style, there are two types of mediators: determinative and facilitative. In a determinative mediation, the mediator takes on a role akin to mediator/arbitrator where they may actually be empowered to make findings of facts leading to the ultimate solution.
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The facilitative mediator will not make a determination on any issue but using experience and subtle persuasive tools tries to drive each party to a point of resolution by challenging positions and getting each party to see the issues through the oppositions’ eyes. The latter is David's style and he yields a success rate of over 90% of the cases presented to him.
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"Interestingly, in all of the years that I tried cases, I have never had one person thank me for being in a trial and all of the ancillary process, but I have people thank me all of the time for having the experience of mediation. It's as if they feel like they were in command of their resolution rather than being a chess piece moved here or there by the attorneys or the judge. I get a great deal of satisfaction leading people through the process."
David attributes a significant portion of his success to the fact that he has been fortunate to have extensive experience in his career coupled with the fact that his practice has presented him with a broad spectrum of experience.