| Article ID: | iaor19931064 |
| Country: | United States |
| Volume: | 4 |
| Start Page Number: | 217 |
| End Page Number: | 229 |
| Publication Date: | Sep 1991 |
| Journal: | Public Budgeting and Financial Management |
| Authors: | Cooley John |
| Keywords: | decision: applications, decision: studies, decision theory |
In 1987 Stuart Nagel, University of Illinois, and this author teamed up as co-mediators and successfully resolved a million-dollar federal court case through the application of computer technology and decision-aiding software. Assisting us on the project was Paul Bernstein, a nationally recognized, Chicago-based expert in compuer applications in law practice and telecommunications. Although the case settled on traditional monetary terms, it has a rainbow of opportunities for what is called a ‘super-optimum’ settlement. This article describes what super-optimum mediation is; explains its application in the federal court case just mentioned; and suggests ideas for further application of super-optimum mediation to court cases, as this concept develops and begins to come of age.