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PCMR v. Talisker: enter a mediator

by Jay Hamburger THE PARK RECORD

Third District Court Judge Ryan Harris on Thursday ordered Park City Mountain Resort and Talisker Land Holdings, LLC into mediation in an effort to settle the lawsuit centered on PCMR’s lease of the other side’s acreage that underlies most of the resort’s terrain.

But little else about the upcoming mediation was discussed during the Thursday hearing. The move toward mediation itself was unexpected. The mediation will not be binding.

Both sides must agree to the person who will serve as the mediator. A mediator is typically an attorney.

The judge required the mediation be completed by Aug. 15, meaning that the mediator will almost certainly be hired shortly.

Mediation occurs in a private setting. It seems there will be little information made public about the progress of the mediation.

A Snyderville Basin mediator not involved in the case said in an interview mediation can work. The process needs to be voluntary, Jill Sheinberg said.

"If one or both parties does not want to mediate, it will not be successful," Sheinberg, who is an attorney as well, said, adding, "A mediated agreement is the best kind of agreement . . . It comes from them."

She said the PCMR-Talisker Land Holdings, LLC case has not passed the point when mediation could be successful. Neither side should have leverage in a mediation setting, she said.

Sheinberg, a mediator since the mid-1980s, said mediation in the case could shorten the process of reaching a resolution. That would be good for the community, she said.


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