At Work with Stuart I. Teicher, Esq.
By Libby Barsky
August 15, 2008
Name: Stuart I. Teicher, Esq.
Type of business: A mediator of real estate and business disputes
Address: 758 State Highway 18
Telephone: (732) 986-7003
Web site: www.SIT-Law.com
Number of employees: 1
Founded: Attorney since 1993
Top officer: Stuart I. Teicher, senior mediator
How would you describe your business?
"I provide an alternative way to resolve disputes that's better than litigation. Mediation is the only way both parties walk away from the table pleased with the results. In litigation there is a winner and a loser but mediation is the only way for the parties to bring about a win-win result.
"We mediate any type of contract dispute or consumer dispute, construction litigation, condominium association issues, and dissolving business entities."
What makes your business special?
"The ability of being able to help people who are in a conflict to walk away with a decision that pleases them both.
"As a litigator, it's a lot of fighting and with mediation hopefully it's about resolving and talking rather than fighting. It feels good to mediate."
What goals do you have for the business?
"My goal is really to firmly establish mediation as the preferred way to settle business disputes."
How has your business changed?
"I was a practicing 'traditional' attorney for many years. I've gone from being primarily adversarial to facilitating discussion and finding solutions. There has been a big change in the nature of my practice. My practice is now about negotiation and resolution as opposed to litigation and fighting."
What was your most important deal?
"I was involved in a matter that was sent to mediation by the court and when I saw how much better it worked with a private mediator it got me interested in trying to find out more about the process. I subsequently was trained by the Office of Dispute Settlement, affiliated with the New Jersey Department of the Public Advocate. I am a qualified mediator on the civil court roster with some court-referred work. However, most of my practice is private mediation with private parties who have not yet started litigation or they may be in litigation and want to settle. I get a lot of what I call 'pre-emptive mediation' -- people who haven't gone to the court system. It really helps the parties because they haven't spent the time and money and anxiety before the case is started. What I like to tell people is, 'When your next move is to go to court, call me first.' Or 'if you are in court and you've had enough, call me'."
What changes do you expect in the next 10 years?
"I believe that there will be a much greater reliance on alternate dispute resolution (ADR) in the court system and out of the court system. For example, a real estate developer is in transition of handing over the common element to a condominium association and they are arguing over whether certain items were constructed properly or not. You can call in a mediator to act as a neutral third party to try to get the parties come to an agreement on how they will complete the transition instead of going to court and having a judge decide.
"Or take the example of a contract. If there are two parties in any business situation that have a disagreement whether one person has performed under the contract you can run to court, that may mean some years before you get an answer. If you have conflict with someone, before going to court you may want to bring in a neutral third party to sit down talk about the situation and see if there is a way to resolve it. Having a neutral third party may allow you to avoid going to court. That's what the courts want you to do anyway."
What's the most important thing you've learned in your business?
"There are two: I think you must keep lines of communication open if you want to resolve disputes with anyone.
"If the parties are motivated, any dispute can be settled. And it happens by allowing people to see the other side and allowing them to vent their emotions."
What advice would you give to someone considering your line of work?
"It's my opinion that you should experience the legal system both as a litigant and an attorney to really understand people's motivation in this type of conflict. I think it's important to experience it in both roles -- both as an attorney and as a litigant, because as an attorney, you are more detached from the case, but when you are involved it's much closer to you. And understanding that feeling is important to effectively mediate with someone else, because you know what they are going through."
Is there anything else you would rather be doing?
"I don't think there is anything else I'd rather be doing, but I am involved in another part of the legal world. I'm involved in Continuing Legal Education or CLE. Recently, I've started to teach CLE classes and started a new Web site (www.celboutique.com) that helps attorneys manage their CLE obligations by tracking and managing their credits. I'm planning to launch the site in the middle of September to track and manage. Right now