Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Retired Judge Robert L. Harris Sr. has reached nearly $1 billion in the value of settlements he’s helped bring about through means of alternative dispute resolution.

Harris is one of the original members of The McCammon Group, a nearly 60-member team made up of retired judges, attorneys and businesspeople who provide mediation and arbitration services throughout the commonwealth and surrounding areas.

As a Richmond Circuit judge for 10 years, Harris saw many trials work their way through the court system. He brings this experience with him into his career as a mediator.

Mediation, a confidential and voluntary process, allows disputing parties to agree to their own settlement rather than let a judge or jury dictate the outcome. Instead of representing one side of the argument, a mediator works with both parties, providing analysis and suggesting solutions. The process eliminates much of the time, cost and stress involved with a court trial.

“I am a fish in water with this,” Harris told Virginia Lawyers Weekly in a profile some years ago. “Each case is a challenge, to see if I can get people together…I just love it. It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”

Harris remains one of The McCammon Group’s most sought-after mediators. For the past 12 years, he has taken on over 1,700 cases, according to The McCammon Group.

Some of Harris’ noteworthy dispute resolutions from 2007 include the following:

• In June, after four weeks of negotiations, a waste management company agreed to a $12 million settlement for a man who was rendered a quadriplegic after a garbage truck backed into his Jeep.

• On March 22, a 4-year-old child who suffered permanent brain damage as a result of an automobile accident received $8.35 million after a successful second mediation.

• Also in March, parties reached a $4 million settlement for a technician who was disfigured and left without a sense of smell or taste when hit in the face by a defective brass nozzle under high water pressure. The case was settled a day after the mediation session.

Biography

Education: B.A., College of William & Mary, 1961; J.D., Wake Forest University law school, 1964

Practice Area: Mediation

Achievement: Advancement of mediation as a means for dispute resolution, numerous significant settlements reached in 2007, nearly $1 billion in value of settlements

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