Both Bobby Jones and Butch Smith are mediators registered with the State of Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution. Both partners bring their many years of experience in the courtroom to the mediation process. Their firsthand knowledge and experience allows them to settle the vast majority of cases heard at mediation. This process helps our clients reduce the cost of litigation and often allows the clients to avoid the unpleasant experience and anxiety associated with a jury trial.

In mediation, the mediator promotes the dialogue among the parties and the attorneys, keeping all interested participants focused on the goal of coming to an amicable resolution of the matter.

The process typically involves a joint meeting where the mediator and the parties discuss the facts of the case. The parties typically then separate into different rooms, with the neutral traveling back and to between each room communicating options, offers, and hopefully ending the process with a negotiated settlement that is acceptable to all involved. An important principle of this process is that the parties retain the exclusive power to decide whether their case is settled or not. If the parties choose not to settle the case at mediation, they are then free to pursue their case in litigation.

Jones and Smith has ample facilities that permit them to handle mediations comfortably and privately. Metter is centrally located between Macon, Savannah, Augusta, and Brunswick, and is therefore easily accessible to parties and attorneys from the entire southeastern region of Georgia.