MODULE 2- ETHICAL PROBLEMS IN DISPUTE RESOLUTION,

NEGOTIATION AND COURT-ANNEXED MEDIATION

CASE STUDY 1Assume that you have been engaged to handle a big estate case by a wealthy client. Under
your contract, you are to receive a down payment of P25,000.00 acceptance fee, and a per
appearance fee of P5,000.00 aside from transportation and representation expenses. You figure that
since this is a big estate proceeding, it will drag on for about five years, and that you would have an
assured retainer every month since a case is calendared at least every month. Further, your client
has also intimated that he would like you to be appointed administrator of the estate if you win the
case. The complaint is filed, and the case is set for pre-trial. As the case is called for pre-trial, the
judge ordered the parties go to the Philippine Mediation Center for mediation. In the mediation
proceeding, the mediator has proposed a compromise which will satisfy the wishes of your client.
Considering that the compromise settlement will bring a sudden closure to the case, will you
recommend acceptance of the compromise proposed by the mediator? Why or why not?
CASE STUDY 2You are a veteran labor lawyer as well as a labor leader of a big national labor federation.
One day multinational company approaches you and tells you that you have been chosen to act as a
private impartial mediator in a sensational labor dispute between the company and another
federation, which happen to be arrival of your own union. Will you accept the challenge of
mediating between the company and the federation? Reason out your answer. If you accept, do you
need to shift your perspective to be an effective mediator? What paradigm shift would be
necessary?
CASE STUDY 3As counsel for an employee who has been unjustly dismissed by his employer, you assist
him in the conciliation proceedings before the Labor Department. The conciliator asks your client
if he has attempted to look for another job, and your client answers that he
had tried very hard
to look for a new one but he did not land any. You know very well that this is not true, for client
would have been accepted in another company but he rejected this because he found it too arduous.
What will you do in such a situation?
CASE STUDY 4You are a negotiator for your client, a plaintiff in a bodily injury civil case arising from a bad
accident where your client's head was fractured. Your client suffered damages amounting to Php
1,000,000.00. You are meeting with your counter part negotiator and he has asked you to lay your
cards on the table, and to give him your bottom line negotiating figure. You know very well that
what ever amount you tell him will not be readily accepted that your counterpart will probably try
to cut it, possibly into half. Will you tell him the correct amount of damages, or will you inflate it to
make allowance for a compromise?
CASE STUDY 5- The Call Center
Facts For Parties Counsel
Lisa De Jesus has work for the Hart and Andersen call center for the past year. She works
from 10 AM to 7PM except Saturday handling inquiries from Hart and Andersen clients in the

United Kingdom and Australia, Lisa is young, and quite pretty. In fact, in her province, she is
something of a local celebrity: She is a product endorser for her towns international banking
institution. The company's head office is on London, what
routes client inquiries and service
requests to agents in the Philippine, as a way of minimizing overhead expenses. Because of its
affiliations, and a long record of outstanding customer service, Hart and Andersen enjoys the
reputation of being one of the world's best credit facility providers. Simon Castro is the CEO for
Hart and
Andersen in the Philippine. One morning after returning from in his business trip to
Melbourne, Simon receives a letter addressed to him from Lisa, she had contacted her
lawyers and was contemplating the filing of charges against him for a sexual harassment
Confidential Facts for
Lisa De Jesus Counsel
You have just passed the bar, and given your mediocre performances in laws school, was
fortunate to have as your godfather a senior partner of a top Makati Law firm. You are, ergo,
unsure of what exactly constitutes sexual harassment, although you have a general idea that it is
prohibited under a special law and a just cause for termination under the Labor Code. In her initial
conversation with you, Lisa tells you of several separate incident on which she is basing her charge.
The incidents consisted namely of one-on- one encounters with Castro where he placed his hands
on her back or her shoulders and
uttered statements in a tone that suggested sexual overtures (in
Lisa's words, tsansing). Lisa is asking for nothing less than Php150,000.00 by way of settlement,
and she is adamant about remaining with the Hart and Andersen. She has known qualms about
going to court as she confides that all of your services are being covered. She is
nevertheless interested in exploring and out-of court settlement, as she believes this will be in able
her to quickly get the money she feels is due her. Upon consulting with your godfather about the
case, he tells you that a senior partner of the law firm had promised, in return for Lisa's services as
an escort, and help Lisa in her undertaking. Afraid that this might be revealed should the case go to
court, the senior partner is willing to give you the Php 150,000.00 that Lisa is requesting, or the
balance from what Castro is willing to pay. However, should he be required to pay, then the
settlement terms with Castro must include a stipulation that Lisa is to return home. He makes it
clear that he does not want to spend more on Lisa than is necessary to keep things
quit.
Lisa is unaware of this exchange. She knows that the senior partner is already helping her
by allowing her to be represented by his firm. The senior partner does not
want Lisa to know
that he is doing anything more
Confidential Facts for
Simeon Castros Counsel
Simon Castro single-handedly convince London management to one a call center in Manila,
and is primarily in charge of ensuring that the call center function in line with management
directives. He himself has invested much time and money into this ventures, and after two years of
operation, has built up credibility with both the head office and partner corporation in Southeast
Asia, who are consequently thinking of affiliating with Hart and Andersen through him. Simon
does not want this case to go to court, as the consequences on his career would be devastating. He
confides to you that though there were instances where he did touch De Jesus and joke with her, he
claims that he did so only because he thought that De Jesus was comfortable with it. He says that
at not time did De Jesus show any signs of being offended by his conduct. He does however admit
that he finds her pretty, and has more than once contemplated on asking her out. He tells you that it
is not impossible that these thought may have found their way into his action. In light of all this,
Simon is willing to settle for no more than Php 200,000.00 but Lisa must tender her resignation and

agree to bring no subsequent civil, criminal, or administrative action against him in connection
with any cause arising from this settlement, including her termination. Later, you go to the gym,
an exclusive one in the Makati area frequented by hotshot lawyers like yourself. While in locker
room, you
happen to overhear a conversation between two young lawyers of a woman who
provided the senior partner of a law firm with escort services, and who is now asking one of the
newer lawyers of that firm to represent her in a case she is planning to file for sexual harassment
against her boss. All the details seem to mirror the ones in Simon's case although no names are
mentioned.
CASE STUDY 6You are the judge in a civil case for legal separation, with plea for support pendente lite. At
the pre-trial, you are enjoined under rules prescribe by the Court Administrator, to try your best to
reconcile or at least to find a compromise between the parties. You do that, inquiring into the
family life of the parties, examining the source of their disagreement, and proving into their hidden
fears and interest. From your inquiry, you get to know that it is probably the husband who is at
fault, and that the wife needs immediate support otherwise she and her four children will starve.
Despite your best effort, your attempts
to settled fail, and the case goes to trial. Will you go on
and try the case yourself, or will you inhibit yourself and pass on the case to another judge?
CASE STUDY 7- The Father In Law
Facts for All Parties
Harry and Kathleen were engaged. Harry is the guitarist in a rock band that plays on
weekends on bars around the city, while Kathleen is the beautiful daughter of a rich plastic surgeon
whose clients include society's, bigwigs, actors, and wives of a politician. In fact, he has several
billboard along major thoroughfares, a tv commercial, and segment on a weekly talk show.
In preparation in their wedding, Harry, who is a bit overweight and has a tendency to sweat
a lot, has decided to undergo surgery in the hands of Kathleen's father. However, something goes
horribly wrong during the liposuction procedure. Harry spends four (4) months in the care of a
team of specialists in one of the best hospitals in the country. Although he survives, he is left
scarred in areas around his waist, and has been told that he has lost all reproductive abilities.
Given the high profiles of Kathleen and her father, and the nature of Harrys injuries, the
parties have acquiesced to mediation as their preferred form of dispute resolution. They have
further agreed that because of the intense emotion involved, it would be best to allow their
respective counsels to represent them in the mediation, rather than risk a volatile confrontation.
The chosen mediator is Atty. Mariano, a friend of Harrys family, who just recently arrived
in the country from an assignment with the United Nations which included representing the UN in
peace talks with belligerent states.

Confidential Facts for

Kathleens Fathers Counsel
Kathleens father is not licensed to practice plastic surgery. In fact, he is a veterinarian. If
this case goes to court, this will surely be revealed , and the consequences for him would be nothing
short of disastrous. He is, therefore, willing to settle for as much as is needed to keep the case from

being litigated.
However, he tells you that he is currently in the process of settling separate claims with other
clients whose job he botched. These settlement are all being done as quickly as possible, but they
have drained much of his finances. In addition, word mostly through hushed conversations has
been getting around, and the unconfirmed rumors have affected his business. He reveals that he
personally spent for an advertising campaign as a counter-measure, an investment that likewise did
not come cheap.
In a telephone conversation with Harrys counsel, you revealed your intention to have an
independent doctor make a prognosis. This doctors report arrived only a few hours ago and
showed that the specialists who treated Harry had overlooked a crucial indicator that the doctor
warned might become the basis for an unduly favorable prognosis.
Although you were initially averse to the choice of mediator, you capitulated after receiving
confidential information that Atty. Mariano was involved with an extremist anti-capitalist syndicate
engaged in the high-level corporate sabotage of key American financial institutions. You are still
unsure about how you are going to us this to your benefit-- if at allespecially since you have been
unable to substantiate the precise nature of the involvement. Nevertheless, you feel it is an
important ace up your sleeve.
Besides, Kathleens father has made it abundantly
clear that he wants to facilitate the
coming to an agreement, f only because his daughters emotional state has been highly affected by
the whole affair.
Confidential Facts for
Atty. Mariano
You have just returned from three (3) months of secret negotiations with the leaders of a
covert international group whose extremist views against capitalism are basis for their highly
sophisticated commercial sabotage of key American financial institutions. Your part in the process,
as a representative of the United Nations, is confidential: no one must know that the UN is even
aware of the groups existence.
Which is why, to throw off suspicion, you have asked to spend few weeks in your home
country, the Philippines, before returning to Geneva.
You havent become a top international diplomat for nothing: your sense of
professionalism, integrity, and fairness have been important factors in your success. You do not
intend to treat this case any differently, even in spite of the long friendship you share with Harrys
family. In fact, because of this relationship, which you are well aware will spawn suspicion in
counsel of Kathleens father, your conduct will be neutral and above reproach.
Confidential Facts for
Harrys Counsel
According to a report from the doctor who attended to Harry during his recovery, there is
60% chance that Harry will recover normal reproductive functions within the next three (3) years,
but there is an 80% chance that, because of the damage to certain areas, dexterity in his limbs
--including the fingers--will decrease significantly in the same period. The doctor however added
that there is 35% chance that with proper physical therapy, the risk of loss of dexterity could be
reduced by as much as 50%.

In a telephone conversation, counsel for Kathleens father informed you that they were
requesting another doctor who did not participate in Harry recovery to be allowed to examine the
medical records and make a separate prognosis. This has led you to suspect that neither Kathleens
father nor his counsel may even be aware of the doctors report you have, much less its contents.
Harry is still very much in love with Kathleen, despite what has happened, and wants a
settlement with Kathleens father that wont endanger Harrys chances of marrying. This is
precisely why, although he does not want to go through a protracted legal process and is willing to
give up all claims to the medical expenses incurred if Kathleens father will agree to pay for the
physical therapy need to keep the dexterity loss to a minimum.
The hospital bills show that Harrys medical expenses totalled more than Php 1.3 million. A
conservative estimate for the physical therapy id Php 850,000.00.
You are confident after hearing Harrys explanation that Atty. Mariano was a regular guest
of his familys for Sunday lunches and out-of-town trips while Atty. Mariano was still in law school
the mediation will yield favorable results.