§ 154.024.Mini-Trial

A settlement device dressed as a trial, and it runs only by agreement.

The parties must agree to it. Unlike mediation, a mini-trial is not something a court imposes over objection.

Each party and its counsel present the party’s position, either before selected representatives for each party or before an impartial third party.

The representatives are the point of the exercise. A mini-trial is aimed at putting the case in front of executives with authority to settle, who have heard it only from their own lawyers.

The stated purpose is to define the issues and develop a basis for realistic settlement negotiations.

The impartial third party may issue an advisory opinion on the merits of the case.

The opinion binds nobody unless the parties agree that it does and enter into a written settlement agreement.

That last clause is the escape hatch and the closing device at once: the parties can convert an advisory view into a binding resolution the moment they choose to.

The audience is what makes a mini-trial work. Decision-makers who have heard only their own side’s account watch the other side present its case in a compressed form.

It is used where the dispute is about evaluation, not fact. Two well-advised companies can disagree about the value of a case, and this procedure puts the disagreement in front of the people who can end it.