Financial Overview

passionate about the topic and discuss it frequently; it encompasses universal topics such as managing expenses, reducing spending, eliminating debt, and creating savings. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed in its 2020 Employee Financial Wellness Survey that “financial or money matters/challenges” were far and away (at 54 percent) the most common cause of stress among full-time employed US adults. In a previous PwC study, 47 percent of employees said that financial stress either caused them to miss work or has negatively impacted their productivity. Today, employers are viewing financial wellness as part of a broad employee wellness initiative that has taken shape amidst the pandemic. Your financial wellness program, led by your advisor, should go beyond simply making the right choices amongst the fund lineup in the 401(k). For many plan participants, the biggest challenges come from expenses such as paying down credit card debt, saving for emergencies, college planning, and elder care for aging parents.

The new year brings with it an opportunity to put a new set of eyes on your plan. We have been very successful in reducing overall plan expenses, creating significant savings for employees, and, most importantly, building trusted relationships with management and employees alike. Our firm works as an advisor and co-fiduciary to corporate 401(k) plans, specializing in the construction industry. We work with many UTCA member firms to enhance their 401(k) offering and build education programs designed to engage employees. We appreciate that each company is unique, and we take the time to understand how you operate before creating a customized plan that is suitable, low cost, high value, and ERISA compliant.

Is it time to put your 401(k) plan out to bid this year?? If so, call me, Mike Meyers, at (732) 291-3338 for more information.

Disclaimer:

Mountain Hill Investment Partners is an SEC Registered Investment Adviser. We have a clearing and custody relationship with Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE/SIPC.

virtual mediations of construction disputes

By: adrienne isacoff, esq., florio, perrucci, steinhardt, cappelli, Tipton & Taylor LLC

Mediation of construction disputes is used routinely in the commercial and public spheres. In the private realm, the AIA contract series and other similar contract templates typically include mediation as a default. In the public sphere, New Jersey Local Public Contracts Law, N.J.S.A 40A:11-1 et seq mandates some form of alternative dispute resolution. Typically, municipalities prefer to meet this requirement by including a mediation clause in their contracts while preserving the right to litigate disputes. The New Jersey Superior Court mediation program also requires mediation of most construction disputes, and New York and Pennsylvania have mediation programs as well. With the COVID-19 pandemic slowing trials, this method of resolution is welcomed to a larger degree than in the past.

The pandemic’s effect on the mediation process has been dramatic, although it has not slowed down the number of cases. Typically, one of the benefits of mediating is the ability to “size up” both counsel and witnesses in the live mediation session. Some of that benefit is lost in the virtual format, but other advantages remain. Even if the proceedings do not result in settlement, each side gains insight into what it will be like to be cross-examined in court, how knowledgeable they are about points raised by the adverse party that they might not have anticipated, and how a neutral party (the mediator) might view the strengths and weaknesses of each side’s positions. The parties also have an opportunity to be provided with discovery, potentially early in the litigation process before formal discovery has been initiated; this may be cost-saving.

Initial Conferences

Often the mediator and attorneys use the virtual format to expand the pre-mediation session communications, laying groundwork and engaging in substantive discussions of factual and legal issues before the actual mediation. Document demands might be discussed in the first session, and then another virtual meeting might be scheduled to allow the attorneys to educate the mediator further. Only then does the actual mediation session—in which the parties are invited to attend—take place. This allows the parties to dive in more fully to the matters that are in dispute.

The Joint Opening Session

There are still good reasons to have an opening joint session. Often the decision-maker for the other party has not heard your or your counsel’s arguments. Conversely, your own attorney might not have wanted to be completely upfront about some weaknesses in your case. The opening session is your chance to talk directly to the other decision-maker and for you to hear the other party’s best arguments.

Engaging in a discussion when there are several people in one virtual room, each of whom wants to talk, presents new challenges, especially when matters get heated. The mediator needs to take charge of the situation, ensure that everyone is on mute when not speaking, and allow responses in an orderly fashion so that everyone can be heard—and, hopefully, everyone can listen! The mediator should also establish certain security measures before the virtual joint session takes place, such as the use of passwords; requiring an agreement not to record the session; and requiring that all attendees be identified prior to the session and be introduced at the session.

Holding opening sessions on a virtual platform offers advantages for demonstrative exhibits. You have the opportunity to screenshare exhibits so that the mediator and other party can focus on the documents as you are explaining their significance. A critical photograph, contract clause, or letter may have a far greater impact under these circumstances. Your attorney and any assistants such as paralegals or IT personnel should be thoroughly familiar with the ability to screen-share documents prior to the session. The mediator may request a brief practice session a few days before the actual session to anticipate and resolve any technical glitches. You should, however, provide a hard copy of any neces-