Cited as one of the "five most effective mediators in the(San Francisco) Bay Area," Patricia Prince also has been described by clients with employment disputes as "brilliant and very tenacious" and as "an extremely quick study and a very skilled communicator."
Focus on Employment
With over a decade of experience as a mediator, Ms. Prince is dedicated to moving clients from conflict to resolution. She is particularly sought after as a mediator of employment disputes—an area that comprises about 70% of her overall practice.
Resolving Litigated or Pre−Litigation Cases
Patricia Prince has helped her clients resolve a wide range of employment-related issues and disputes.
Employment Discrimination
Harassment
Wrongful Termination
Wage & Hour Disputes
- Cases alleging discrimination on the basis of gender, age, racial/ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation are approached with care and empathy,
as well as analytical rigor and fairness, to bring the parties to resolution.
- Cases involving allegations of sexual harassment or harassment on other discriminatory bases often involve both a clash of perceptions
regarding conduct, as well as disagreements over legal standards.
Ms. Prince is skilled in communicating with parties and counsel to expand perceptions and to better understand the application of legal
standards in this highly emotionally-charged area to help parties reach settlement.
- Ms. Prince has been praised for her ability to diffuse highly contentious interactions and to connect with parties to bring
about resolution in wrongful termination cases, where issues of ego, control and employment law often collide.
- Ms. Prince handles both individual and class or collective wage and hour cases. She is adept at working with both the business
and the emotional aspects of wage and hour cases in order to efficiently settle these cases.
Principled, Perceptive & Effective
Ms. Prince has been a neutral since 2001 and enjoys a successful practice as an employment mediator. She is an energetic and tenacious mediator who gets to the root of the dispute. Having been a litigator for over 15 years, she uses her extensive legal expertise, strong negotiating abilities and personable demeanor to help parties craft realistic and enduring agreements.
Ms. Prince creates a professional, yet empathetic, atmosphere through a combination of her legal knowledge, thorough preparation and ability to grasp issues quickly. She is a highly effective communicator who injects flexibility, fairness and creativity into the resolution of disputes.
Solving the Problem
Ms. Prince is adept at identifying and resolving the underlying problems faced by the parties in the dispute, which often are magnified or otherwise distorted as the parties enter or proceed through the legal system. Ms. Prince is a skilled translator between the personal and business interests of parties and the legal requirements of a litigated case.
Pre-session Preparation
Tools and Techniques
Curiosity, Empathy and Focus on Resolution
- Solving the problem in an employment dispute begins before the commencement of the mediation session with a careful review of
mediation statements prepared by counsel for the parties and a pre-mediation session telephone conference with counsel to discuss
the most efficacious mediation process for the dispute, to identify key factors that counsel and the parties believe may positively
or negatively affect settlement prospects, and to hone in on case dynamics.
- Ms. Prince has developed additional tools to assist counsel and the parties prior to the mediation session, including a questionnaire counsel may use to assist their clients in prioritizing their business interests, as well as their personal interests, and in gaining a better overt appreciation of the opposing side�s interests prior to the mediation session. These tools and techniques help counsel and the parties prepare more effectively prior to the mediation session, which typically results in a more efficient session.
- Ms. Prince listens carefully with curiosity and empathy for case themes and to understand the perspective of all parties of the dispute.
She works closely with counsel to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each side�s case; she helps the parties identify and prioritize
their interests; and she keeps the parties focused on resolution as they negotiate, using her decade of ADR experience to move the parties
through impasse to settlement.
Internal Workplace Mediation and Training
In addition to mediating pre-litigation and litigated disputes, Ms. Prince also works with businesses to resolve conflicts within business organizations when communication has broken down, including:
Internal Workplace Conflict Resolution
Mediation of Internal Business Disputes
Workplace Training and Coaching
- Internal workplace conflict resolution to curtail disputes before they escalate to the point of disrupting the
workplace with gossip and office politics(at best) or the time, stress and expense of litigation(at worst).
- Mediation of internal business disputes involving financial challenges, priorities, future goals, and mission statement goals for partners,
shareholders or management.
- Ms. Prince also offers coaching and training in dispute resolution for managers and employees.
Overcoming Cultural Obstacles to Resolution
Ms. Prince has significant expertise resolving disputes involving cross-cultural disputants and is equally comfortable mediating with U.S. companies and nationals as with foreign companies and nationals.
Fluent in Spanish
Cultural Fluency
Recognized International Competency
- Ms. Prince is fluent in Spanish and is particularly effective at building bridges in cases in which the approach to
negotiation and conflict resolution of differing cultures may be exacerbating the dispute.
- Her language skills and cultural fluency have proven invaluable in establishing the trust necessary to successfully
resolve seemingly intractable disputes among parties from different cultures.
- Patricia Prince was awarded the 2012 RockRose Scholarship to attend a conference at the
International Summer School on Business Mediation in Admont, Austria, which brought together
100 conflict resolution professionals from around the world to focus on successfully mediating business disputes.
Through her active mediation practice, study and teaching, Ms. Prince is continually deepening her international perspective and cultural competencies. These skills have been called upon with increased frequency to successfully resolve business disputes in the high tech, medical, healthcare, investment and restaurant industries.