Over the past four decades, Mediation and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) have become the predominant methods by which civil cases in the federal courts, and most state courts, are resolved. 

The advantages of Mediation over litigation through trial are readily apparent and well known to litigation lawyers: 

• Confidentiality – While court cases and their outcomes are matters of public record available to the public, resolutions achieved by mediation can be kept private and known only to the parties themselves. 

• Cost – Resolution of a dispute by mediation or other form of ADR almost always result in cost savings to the parties. 

• Speed of Resolution – As court dockets at all levels become more congested, litigation through trial usually results in the dispute remaining unresolved for years, thus requiring that the parties to put other, potentially more profitable or more advantageous uses of their time and money on hold. 

• Control Over Outcome – Unlike litigation, which requires that the parties submit their dispute and its outcome in the hands of a judge or jurors who they do not know, mediation provides a mechanism whereby the parties themselves can fashion an agreed resolution of their case, thus permitting the parties to control their own fates. 

• Communication Between the Parties – While litigation necessarily requires that the parties refrain from directly communicating with each other during the pendency of the lawsuit, mediation provides the parties with the opportunity to address each other directly, thereby increasing the chances that a preexisting relationship may survive the dispute. 

Having participated in numerous mediations as a private attorney representing both plaintiffs and defendants and having ordered and conducted mediations over 15 years as a federal district court judge, Sandy Mattice brings a unique perspective to serving as a mediator, one which greatly enhances the prospects that a mediation over which he presides will result in a fair and cost-effective resolution of the clients' dispute. 

Sandy is listed as Rule 31 General Civil Mediator by the Tennessee Supreme Court Commission on Alternative Dispute Commission and is certified as an Approved Mediator by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.