Mediation Focus
Mr. Argue focuses his mediation practice on the areas of business/real estate, construction and insurance matters, where he has over 25 years experience through both litigation and alternative dispute resolution, and has successfully resolved hundreds of cases.
Business/Real Estate
As both a real estate transactional attorney involved in many aspects of land use, development, and commercial transactions and as a real estate litigator and trial attorney, Mr. Argue has an extensive background in business/real estate matters. His familiarity with the legal complexities of business and real estate cases allows him to quickly assess the legal issues and help the parties move forward with resolving the underlying and often difficult personal and other interests that can stop a case from settling until too much time, money and emotion has been invested. In many cases, the personal relationships that have been fractured or completely severed during the litigation process are able to be salvaged and may result in renewed bonds or business relationships.
Construction
For over 25 years, Mr. Argue has been involved in resolving construction related disputes. During his 12 years as a construction trial attorney, he tried 10 construction cases even though it is relatively unusual for a construction case to go to trial due to the number of parties, cost, and uncertainty in the outcome. Most notably, he represented plaintiffs in the largest verdict at that time in San Diego County for a luxury-home residential construction defect case ($2.5 million), and represented 84 plaintiffs in AAS v. Superior Court which was appealed to the California Supreme Court and changed the recovery of damages in construction defect cases. His trial experience allows him to evaluate both the risks and rewards of trial and help the parties properly evaluate the benefits of a mediated solution where risk is quantified, payment is assured, and exorbitant costs associated with trials are avoided. His ability to manage complex, multi-party cases with sometimes 20-30 parties enables him to deal effectively with each party while reaching a global resolution that resolves the entire case for all parties.
Insurance
In many cases, insurance proceeds and insurance coverage issues are the determining factors in how a case is resolved. Mr. Argue’s knowledge of insurance coverage issues is based on his experience as both plaintiff’s and developer’s counsel where insurance was the driving force in the case. His understanding of “property damage”, “work product”, “additional insured endorsements”, “supplemental payments” and other key terms in insurance policies allows him to negotiate solutions with insurance carriers that otherwise would derail a settlement.