I am interested in understanding what criteria you would use to hire a mediator (for any purpose). This could be hiring a mediator to work in your practice, or hiring a mediator for a conflict in which you are involved. Would you look for certain training, experience, references? I would especially appreciate anything you could quantify.
Miriam Mandell
I need to arrange for a trademark / servicemark I want to hire a lawyer or some other service that helps people with intellectual property protection. Do you have anyone you would recommend?
I am developing a proposal for retainer work with whom I have been working extensively for the past year. The retainer would be to support the executive team for 6 hours/month by basically providing office hours where they could gain objective insight and expertise, resources, and discuss org. management/development ideas. I have several questions for consultants who have experience with retainer proposals:
1. Do you charge more for a retainer or less/hr than your typical hourly rate? Or is it nothing like your hourly rate because it is a set block of time with the same company for a prolonged period of months (note: this becomes time you can't schedule with other clients)?
2. How do you ensure they don't use this time for longer term services that you generally charge per engagement (e.g.: org analysis, coaching, development planning, documentation, etc.)? What kind of verbiage is helpful to protect against this?