For Attorneys
A probate litigator’s perspective at the settlement table.
Eric spent a decade practicing in probate court. Today he brings that experience to Michigan attorneys seeking a neutral for a contested estate or trust.
Discuss a matterWhat path is right for this one?
Start with what your clients need from the neutral.
Mediation
Choose mediation when the parties have room to trade terms. Eric helps them explore a settlement. The parties decide whether to agree.
Nonbinding arbitration
Consider this when counsel disagree about what the evidence supports. Each side presents its case, and Eric gives an advisory decision they can use to reassess their positions before the next negotiation.
Binding arbitration
Consider this when the parties want a neutral to decide a defined issue. They agree in writing on what to submit and commit to the award, subject to limited court review. Check that the issue can be arbitrated and identify any required probate court approval.
Mediation and arbitration explained in plain language.
In Eric’s words
Why I fell in love with probate court
Before I found probate, I handled complex litigation and served as general counsel. As a trial lawyer, I learned to ask what I could prove. As general counsel, I learned to ask what winning would actually accomplish for the client. Probate court made me ask both questions at once.
To me, probate is the most emotionally charged venue in the legal system. Death, life, money, property, and custody all meet there. Two people can look at the same house and see entirely different things. One sees an asset the estate needs to sell. The other sees the kitchen where their mother sat every morning. Both walk into court with a stake in what happens to that house.
As a Stoic, I thrived there. When tempers rose, I could choose how to respond. Sometimes that meant asking one more question before challenging an account. Sometimes it meant letting someone finish telling me why the house mattered. I fell in love with probate because that kind of discipline could make a difference at the hardest moment in a family’s life.
More from Eric
In my memoir, Ruthless, I write about the life that shaped me long before I stood in a courtroom.
Ask me about the book ↗Start with a conflict check.
Send the names of the parties and counsel, the general type of dispute, and any upcoming hearing date. Hold confidential facts and documents until conflicts have been checked and the engagement agreed.
Contact Eric about a matter ↗