"The Beard Grows, But The Head Does Not Grow Wiser."
"Lawyers work hard and, like us, they're human, many of them."-Dick Cavett
“A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers.” - H. L. Mencken
"I tell you, I'll consult my lawyer. And if he advises me to do it, I'll get a new lawyer."-Groucho Marx 
"We are all here for a spell, get all the good laughs you can."
When it comes to the facilitation "game", the olden days are now defined as any time prior to March 15, 2020. An age when most people thought of ZOOM, if at all, as an old PBS kids' show from the early 2000s.
In those early days of the Millennium, facilitation had not yet become the default Circuit Court Settlement Conference, and part of every attorney's retirement plan.
Back then (I guess we'll call it the Mesozoic Age, when you wanted to facilitate, you generally thought of these 3 men: Judge Kaye Tertzag, Henry Maher, and Jim Finney. Also, facilitation was called facilitation, not mediation like it is often called today. Case evaluation was called mediation at that time, hence the name Mediation Tribunal Association. Simple, isn't it.
Jim Finney was the default Macomb County man. This might also have been because Judge Michael Schwartz of the Macomb Circuit Court would send a case to facilitation, and appoint Jim as the facilitator. The End. Sending a case to facilitation, and mandating the facilitator seems strange now, when there are so many facilitators out there. But it is still done. I've had it happen to me, very recently.
Jim's full obituary can be found here. He apparently was known as "Big Dog" (though not to me), but the name fits. Jim wasn't a member of a mediation/arbitration consortium, like JAMS, with a fancy website, fancier office and fanciest hourly rates.
Jim had been in the trenches without a black robe. He knew how the game was played. He had a standard opening speech, and as I only had cases with Jim while I was a plaintiff lawyer, I only know the version he gave in the plaintiff's "caucus" room.
Paraphrased, though I use quotes: "I've tried hundreds of cases. Let me tell you, that if you don't settle today, you're looking at a jury trial date about 2 years from now. And if you win, the insurance company can take the case to the Court of Appeals, and if they lose there, they can try to go to the Supreme Court. They don't care. They've got the money and all the time in the world. All that can take another 2-3 years. So, you may not get your money for 5 years. " That is shortened considerably, by the way.
Jim gave that speech when he introduced himself to the clients, and often before talking to the attorneys. I always talk to the lawyers first.
More than once I had a case with Jim and he gave that speech before he talked to me. I had to tell him, "By the way Jim, Schwartz sent us to you at the last Settlement Conference. We have a trial date in 2 weeks, and both sides have been talking. I am at 95 and the other side is at 65. We were hoping you might help us get to 80." Which he did.
Jim had a unique style that worked. He did convey to the clients that he had "been there, done that". He had seen the elephant.
He was a great guy outside the lines as well.
Jim was born in 1935, and moved to Texas in recent years. He passed in January of 2020, after a long illness which had progressively robbed him of his faculties. A real tragedy.
I am honored to have known and worked with Jim. I am sorry the present generation of lawyers did not have that same honor.
Lex Fugit.
I always enjoyed working with Jim. All he wanted to know was how much you'd pay. Not the fake number but the real one. Then, you wouldn't see him for an hour or so and generally it was done.
Tom Azoni
Posted by: Thomas Azoni | 05/18/2020 at 07:05 PM
He was a talented mediator. I used his services many times and generally we were able to get the case resolved. We talked about our golf games more than the facts of the case. Maybe that was his secret. Very sorry to hear of his passing.
Posted by: Lee Patton | 05/18/2020 at 07:17 PM