A STADIUM ROOF COLLAPSES DAYS BEFORE OPENING
AN EARLY INTERVENTION CASE, LED BY NICOLAS FOURNIER.
The Situation:
A European entertaining company employed a construction company to erect a roof over a large stadium so that it could be used during the winter months. The day before the opening ceremony the roof collapses, it was a catastrophe. The entertaining company were very unhappy and began to file lawsuits against the different parties involved. This included the main construction company, the architects, sub-contractors, and sub-sub-contractors. Without the financial reserves for large lawsuits several of the companies went bust, but a small architecture firm of fifteen employees managed to keep afloat. They could not afford the €4m claim, and subsequently most of their business capital was sequestered and they were brought to near bankruptcy. Years went by with little progress. The expert analysis that was ordered by the judge took a long time and the different parties became angry and aggressive with one another. Meanwhile the judge found it difficult to rule because when the expert brought his conclusion it was not clear or satisfactory. Then, in an unbelievable and unfortunate twist of events, the judge died before giving a verdict.
At this point the architecture firm was nearly bankrupt, a judiciary measure which granted them a civil administrator to run the company, was keeping them afloat, but they didn’t know if they would survive or be liquidated. It was a matter of life or death for this small company. Their designers were very genuine and likeable people, and their whole family business was about to go bust because of the terrible roof, in which they had played only a small part. Many of the other companies had already gone bust, and under the law, if one company can’t pay then the others have to collectively pay for him.
Nicolas Fournier was approached by one of the lawyers for the architecture firm. They were desperate, they didn’t have the money to pay their salaries, the litigation was expected to last a few more years and they would not be able to survive that long. They had to find a solution, or they would disappear. Mediation was their last hope.
The Solve:
Nicolas began the process of Early Intervention. There were a total of ten parties involved and it took eight months for Nicolas to convince three of the main parties and their lawyers to sit down at the mediation table. Being able to bring on board three parties was good progress, but during the meeting they concluded that without the other three crucial participants present they wouldn’t be able to settle. Nicolas approached the remaining three parties again and again, explaining, nudging, and using all his wile and candour to convince them to meet. After five more months two agreed to join the mediation, and after one more month the sixth party decided to join as well. After nine years of heated legal battles all those holding the strings of this dispute were in the same room. For the first time in nine years, they were in a safe place where they could talk freely without fear of consequences. They could listen to one another. The problem still seemed huge and impossible to solve, but the dialogue was reinstated.
During the following days, in a private conversation, the claimant that had been fighting hard for compensation spoke to Nicolas, “We’ve been fighting for nine years, our lawyers tell us we would get millions out of this, but we have been invoiced over 800 k€ by them, and now we understand we will not get millions. We want out, we want to find a solution.” This was very good news, for the first time the possibility of a settlement was in sight.
With six parties involved, the arrangement of who pays how much to whom and in what order is extremely complex. It has to meet the specific constraints of each party. The evening Nicolas spoke to the claimant he went to bed thinking on the problem, and in the middle of the night he woke up with a solution in mind that would settle each party’s constraints.
He created a complex spreadsheet detailing how this optimal solution would serve to be the best outcome for everybody involved. In the following days, numerous private meetings took place behind the scenes to get the different parties and their lawyers on board with the solution, and to agree on what their part in it might be.
Twelve days later they met once more, and all parties agreed to settle.
The impact:
It was a huge success. With nine years passed in a deadlock dispute, several failed attempts to negotiate by lawyers and no visible way to resolve it themselves, this dispute could have spiralled into many years of appeals and unsustainable legal fees. It is an example of the tenacity and belief that mediation requires. You must bring difficult people along with you, pushing and negotiating at every step. The architecture firm received their sequestered money back, they got out of judiciary administration and paid a manageable fee to the claimant. Each party was satisfied with the outcome, the architecture firm is thriving once again, and the other parties are able to move on.
David, the decision maker for the architecture firm shares his experience:
“Our company was involved in an international dispute, with as many as ten parties. The legal proceedings were in their ninth year when we contacted Nicolas Fournier on the recommendation of our lawyer, in order to attempt mediation through the ‘Early Intervention’ process he offered.
It took the Nicolas many months to convince and gather around the table most of the stakeholders, especially because the context had been very tense after all those years of judicial fighting and judicial expertise. Then everything went very quickly.
Nicolas Fournier's work allowed him to identify the expectations, and even more, the needs of each of the parties. In twelve days he managed to find common positions in the interests of each party, which led to a memorandum of understanding, and thus to the definitive closure of the dispute.
Nicolas has definitive qualities of listening, synthesis and persuasion. He made it possible to bring a rapid and positive outcome to a case that seemed likely to last for a long time, and thus consume a lot of time, energy and money, and whose outcome was uncertain.
We highly recommend the principle of mediation, if possible, as "early intervention" for a resolution as early as possible in the development of the dispute, and we again congratulate and thank Nicolas Fournier.”
Vivienne, a lawyer on the case, shares her experience:
"I had the opportunity to involve Nicolas in an international tort litigation case in which the parties had repeatedly refused mediation. This was a complex case involving multiple parties and insurance companies, with different proceedings pending in several EU states. This dispute was very sensitive for some parties whose survival was threatened by the litigation.
Initially, a completely confidential phase consisting of an "early intervention" enabled Nicolas to grasp the various issues at stake in the dispute and to explain his pragmatic and innovative approach to certain stakeholders in order to get them on board.
In a second phase, with the endorsement of the Judge convinced by his professionalism, Nicolas was formally commissioned as a mediator by the Jurisdiction within the framework of a court-order. Thanks to his energy and Nicolas' undeniable added value, and to the surprise of many of the parties involved, a global agreement was reached, extending beyond the judicial perimeter, and allowing a definitive end to all intertwined litigations.
The drafting of the settlement agreement has been monitored until its effective term by Nicolas, who ensured that all aspects of the dispute could have an “exit from the top”. In addition to his technical skills and his specific understanding of the issues and of the field concerned, Nicolas was able to adapt, show creativity and trigger a real dynamic for successful exchanges. As a litigation lawyer, but also as an arbitrator, Nicolas convinced me of the interest of including the use of quality mediation as a complement to the arsenal of complex litigation.
Beyond the shared professional satisfaction, working with Nicolas has been an enriching experience, both intellectually and humanly. I met with Mr. Nicolas Fournier within the framework of a conventional mediation on a complex case because of its technical subject, its financial stakes, the age of the dispute and the number of participants involved. On this occasion I was able to appreciate Mr Fournier’s great qualities as a mediator.
Indeed, through his patience, his benevolence and his perfect knowledge of the case and human relations, he was able to restore dialogue between the parties and lead them towards an agreement.”