Mock Minitrial Solves Dispute

 

To bring the concept of the minitrial to the attention of the business community, the Center for Public Resources, along with the UCLA School of Law and Graduate School of Management, sponsored a "mock minitrial" last March in Los Angeles.

Invited to observe and participate were the presidents of 12 corporations, ranging from giants like Phillip Morris and Boeing to the smaller Telecredit and Frigitronics. The individuals were asked to assume the roles of executives in two fictitious companies: "Calmexico Oil Corp." was suing "U.S. Chemical Co." for trademark infringement by the latter's product, the "Calameks" freestanding bug killer. In the imaginary company histories given the participants, both sides had long-standing rights to their product names. The real problem was that Calameks didn't work well and was damaging sales of Calmexico's own bug killer, "Cal-Mex."

Following the mock trial, the executives paired off and tried to work out settlements. According to Ronald A. Katz, a business consultant who helped organize the event, all six teams produced settlements that were not only "creative and ingenious" but also quite similar. In five of the six settlements, U.S. Chemical received money, either as a settlement or through a buyout of the product or division, in return for taking its product off the market or changing the name. This solved Calmexico's marketing problems while giving U.S. Chemical a profitable disposition of a product that was on the wane.

According to Katz, the settlements worked out by the participants were more advantageous to the two companies than any verdict a court might have reached. "A minitrial gives the parties the right to settle in a businesslike fashion," Katz adds. "Businessmen have the tools and resources to fashion settlements that are consistent with their corporate goals. Courts only have the ability to rule on an issue of law or fact. They finish the dispute, but that does not necessarily end the controversy or the problem."

The mock trial was videotaped, and an edited version will soon be available to business groups and lawyers.

The Center for Public Resources in New York City has compiled a handbook entitled Dispute Management, describing in detail minitrials, arbitration, and other alternatives to litigation. An abridged version is to be published by the end of this year. The center has also assembled a panel of distinguished retired jurists who will be available to serve as neutral advisers in minitrials.

For information, write the Center for Public Resources, 680 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10019, or call (212)-541-9830.