Attorney Questionnaire {CV-37}

MAIL TO: ADR Program Coordinator, 3055 Cleveland Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95403 OR FAX TO: (707) 521-6756 SONOMA COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ADR PROGRAM ATTORNEY QUESTIONNAIRE (CONFIDENTIAL) In accordance with Local Rule 16.4 B please submit completed questionnaire by FAX or mail within 5 (five) days of completion of mediation. This confidential information will be used to 1) evaluate the court's mediation program and 2) to report to the court and to the Administrative Office of the Courts regarding the impact of the court's mediation program for general civil cases. Information from this form will not be shared with the trial judge, other court staff, or other participants in the mediation and will be presented only in aggregate form, without attribution to you, any of the participants, or this case. Case Name: Name of Attorney: PART I - BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1. How many years have you practiced law? G 1-5 G 6-10 Case Number: Type of Case: G 11-15 G 6-10 G more than 15 G 11-25 G more than 25 2. Have you taken any training or courses for mediators or mediation advocates? G Yes G No 3. Total # mediations in which you served as counsel: G under 5 4. How many parties were there in this case? Plaintiffs Defendants Cross-complainants Cross-defendants 5. What is your estimate of this case in terms of (1 = low and 5 = high): 1 Factual complexity Hostility between the parties Hostility between counsel G G G 2 G G G 3 G G G 4 G G G 5 G G G 6. How much money in damages, including compensatory and punitive damages, was originally sought: Up to: $25,000 Complaint Cross-complaint G G $50,000 G G $100,000 G G $500,000 G G G Yes $1,000,000 G G G No over $1,000,000 G G 7. Were non-monetary damages sought by any party? PART II - BEFORE MEDIATION Listed in questions 8 and 10 below are actions the court might have taken to encourage mediation and benefits that you might have expected from mediation. Please indicate how important you feel each of the following was to your decision to use mediation in this case. Please mark "Not Applicable" if the court did not take a listed action or if you did not expect a listed benefit. Not Not 8. Court Actions: Important Important Applicable Court provided information about mediation at a Case Management Conference, through the clerk's office or on the court's website Court provided pro bono or low cost mediation Court actively encouraged mediation CV-37 [Rev. 7/1/11]] Form Adopted for Manadatory Use G G G G G G G G G Page 1 of 4 American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com ATTORNEY QUESTIONNAIRE (CONFIDENTIAL) 9. Please indicate any other action by the court that you feel would have helped to encourage mediation in this case: 10. Expected Benefits of Mediation: Important To get a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the other parties' claims/defenses? G To improve communication between the parties To increase likelihood of preserving the pre-litigation relationship between the parties To speed up resolution of the case To resolve the case with lower litigation costs To get a better outcome in the case To provide my client with a reality check G G G G G G Not Important G G G G G G G Not Applicable G G G G G G G 11. Please identify any benefit that is not listed above that you expected from mediation in this case and indicate whether you received that benefit: 12. From your perspective: a. Was this case suitable for mediation? G Yes G No G Yes G No If not, why not: b. Was the case ready for mediation? If not, why not: 13. How much discovery was completed before the mediation? Completed Exchange of documents Interrogatories Party Depositions Inspection Demands Exchange of expert witness reports Expert witness depositions G G G G G G Some G G G G G G None G G G G G G G No 14. Was enough discovery completed to allow for meaningful negotiations? G Yes PART III - THE MEDIATION PROCESS AND THE MEDIATOR 15. Mediators use a variety of techniques and tools to help parties to resolve their disputes. Thinking about the mediation in this case, please indicate the extent to which the mediator used or emphasized each of the following techniques, if any, and whether you think the technique was helpful in increasing the prospect for resolution of this case. Not Not Helpful Helpful Applicable Expressed his or her opinion about the outcome of the case or of any issue in the case Held private meetings with individual parties Engaged the parties in face to face discussions about dispute Helped the parties identify and consider different ways to settle the dispute G G G G G G G G G G G G CV-37 [Rev. 7/1/11]] Form Adopted for Manadatory Use ATTORNEY QUESTIONNAIRE (CONFIDENTIAL) Page 2 of 4 American LegalNet, Inc. www.FormsWorkFlow.com Helpful Urged a party or parties to accept a specific settlement proposal Helped the parties to understand the adverse party's underlying needs and interests. Helped the parties to assess the strengths and weaknesses of their own positions Encouraged the parties to participate directly in the mediation G G G G Not Helpful G G G G Not Applicable G G G G 16. Please indicate how much you agree with each of the following statements regarding the mediator in this case Yes I had sufficient time before the mediation to adequately prepare for the mediation My client and I had an adequate opportunity to explain my client's side of the story during mediation Mediation helped to improve communication between the parties Mediation helped move the case toward early final resolution Mediation resulted in a fair/reasonable outcome in this case mediation The cost of using mediation was affordable to my client The mediation process was fair I would recommend mediation to future clients I would recommend this mediator to future clients 17. Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied were you with each of the following: The mediation process in this case Outcome of the mediation in this case The ability and performance of the mediator The services provided by the court in this case The total litigation process in this case from your initial involvement through the mediation G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G No G G G G G G G G G Not Applicable G G G G G G G G G PART IV-- CASE OUTCOME 18. Was the matter settled? G before the mediation G during the mediation G after the mediation G not settled If the case settled during mediation, please complete questions 19-21 and skip question 22; if the case did not settle, please skip questions 19-21 and com