Out of the rack at 0530, preform a modified exercise routine and head downtown to be at the City Attorney's office by 0815. Today was my day as a member of the Grand Rapids Building Authority (GRBA) to attend a "Facilitative Mediation Hearing". The GRBA is suing the architect and contractor over a leaking roof at the museum. The court asked to City to try the facilitative mediation process (FM) before resorting to a trial.
The Facilitator is an attorney hired by GR to try and resolve the dispute. It is not arbitration. The facilitator puts the 3 parties in separate rooms and moves between the 3 rooms to see if an agreement can be reached. After 6 hours the facilitator stated that we were at an impasse.
It was an interesting day. 12 people attended the hearing. 5 of the participants were attorneys. My immediate observation was that all lawyers wore either a gray or blue suit. All men (11) except for yours truly had a full head of hair. 4 people were left handed. My opinion is that the architect made a design detail error and should pay the most. We were asking for $270,000. The architect was out of St. Louis and was not interested in paying anything.
All in all it was an interesting day. A nice diversion from biking and kayaking. Tonight we are watching the Olympics. I still have not seen any rowing or kayaking.
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