I’ve mediated countless cases, both as a lawyer and as a client. What I’ve learned is that most disputes, even the most complex and acrimonious disputes, turn on one or two foundational questions. The best mediators identify those foundational questions early. They do much more than shuttle offers back and forth while warning (as if the parties already didn’t know) that litigation is expensive and its results uncertain. They scrupulously avoid the two cardinal sins of mediation—horse trading and baby splitting. And even when they cannot resolve a dispute, they ensure that the parties enjoy one of the most valuable forms of discovery known to trial lawyers—a candid and privileged interrogation of an adversary’s best arguments and evidence well before opening statements, when it’s often too late.