Mediation Can Kill You

After Mother died, a dispute arose over the settlement of her estate.  Sister and Brother entered into mediation.

During a mediation meeting, Brother told Attorney that he would “have to kill” Sister if Attorney could not resolve the dispute.

Attorney did not resolve the dispute fast enough so Brother carried out his threat and also killed himself in the process.

Later, the estate of the now-deceased Sister brought suit against Attorney for failure to warn Sister of the threat.

In Hodgson Russ, LLP v. Trube, 867 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. Ct. App. 2004), the court held that Attorney’s statement was not protected by the attorney-client privilege.