Zeytoonian Center for Dispute Resolution Opens in Massachusetts

WELLESLEY HILLS, Mass.—The Zeytoonian Center for Dispute Resolution, a new center that offers several alternatives to resolving disputes in court, has opened in eastern and central Massachusetts. Focused on resolving disputes in employment, business, healthcare, probate, and family matters and situations, the center was created to provide family and closely held businesses as well as entrepreneurial, non-profit, and mission-based organizations with more cost-effective, efficient, and less damaging approaches to handling disputes than lawsuits. The Wellesley Hills-based center also has offices in Westborough.

“Litigation is costly, not only financially, but more so in terms of lost time, lost opportunity, damaged relationships, and the toll it takes on people and organizations,” said founder Michael Zeytoonian. “With over 98.2 percent of cases filed in courts settled without going to trial, this expensive process, although appropriate in some cases, is unnecessary for most. As a result, the center is designed to offer its clients cost-efficient alternatives to the high costs of litigation by focusing on settlement by design and by intention.

The Zeytoonian Center team consists of its core staff, of counsel attorneys, and affiliated mediators, experts/consultants, and coaches. All of the attorneys and mediators are trained in collaborative law.

Zeytoonian is a lawyer, mediator, and ombudsman. A partner at Hutchings, Barsamian, Mandelcorn & Zeytoonian, LLP, in Wellesley Hills, he specializes in employment law, mediation, collaborative law, business law, administrative law, and negligence. Zeytoonian is admitted to practice in the state and federal district courts of Massachusetts and New York (southern district) and the state of Connecticut. Previously, he served as assistant attorney general in the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York. Zeytoonian writes frequently on collaborative law and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and has trained lawyers in collaborative law around the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Many people have heard of ADR but are unclear as to what it is. The processes and techniques offered by the Zeytoonian Center include mediation, collaborative law, case evaluation, and the use of ombudsmen and consultants. One of the center’s goals is to educate clients about how the alternatives work and help them design and choose an approach that works best for their specific situation and circumstances. The center’s first task with a new client is to thoroughly assess the situation, the facts, the applicable law and the parties involved, and then help the client determine which approach would work best.

The Zeytoonian Center’s work is focused on problem-solving, identifying the interests of the parties involved in the conflict, and developing creative options to satisfy their needs, rather than taking the adversarial approach inherent in litigation. It utilizes the talents of lawyers, mediators, expert consultants, and coaches, working with clients to bring about real and lasting solutions. “Often, the conflict involves legal issues, but sometimes the problem is not a legal one as much as it is a situation in the workplace that needs some expert coaching or facilitation by people trained to do that,” said Zeytoonian.

One of the concepts the center is dedicated to is the “sovereignty of the client.” Its approaches are designed to keep the control of the process used and the decision-making with respect to the outcome in the hands of the clients involved in the dispute. The center does not offer litigation or arbitration because in those methods, the parties give up the decision-making as to the outcome to a judge, a jury, or an arbitrator; since the parties have little say in the procedure, they don’t have the freedom to design or choose a process that would work better for their situation.
Zeytoonian points out that Abraham Lincoln, a great trial lawyer in his own right, discouraged litigation, observing that the nominal winners are often real losers when you factor in the costs, time, and damage of litigation. “If both parties’ interests can be met without one being a loser, then we have all achieved a far healthier and more lasting solution,” Zeytoonian concluded.

Headquartered in Wellesley Hills, Mass., the firm also maintains offices in Westborough, Mass.

For more information, visit www.zeytooniancenter.com or call the Zeytoonian Center at (781) 489-2270.