Services

MEDIATION, ARBITRATION & ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Do you really want to see them in court—lose time and money, and live with the stress and heartache? Have your personal information in the public record—perhaps permanently? Face uncertain legal bills and complex legal processes with no clear resolution timelines? 

Our ADR practice uses informed common sense to constuct and memorialize clear and sustainable agreements that resolve our Clients' conflicts through mediation, arbitration and other ADR procedures. Rivers Finance Law is dedicated exclusively to solving principally financial disputes and in that context crafting enduring settlements that are enforceable through clear, understandable legal backstops (e.g. consent agreements for money damages). We offer services acting as a neutral third party in binding and advisory processes as well as obligatory and voluntary processes. Our work focuses on settling payment terms, valuing businesses interests, resolving real property disputes, and optimal allocation in the context of high net worth divorces and estate/trust dispositions. Depending on the particular facts of a case we take on as third party neutral, we offer both caucus-style ADR processes (i.e. the parties do not directly communicate in the presence of the third party neutral) and joint and hybrid approaches (i.e. the parties do/may communicate with each other in the presence of the third party neutral). Our information gathering and deal formation process is informed by cutting edge research on best practices in dispute resolution including in identifying the underlying interests, objectives, right parties, sequence, and communicating the legal process reality. In each case, our objective is to reach sustainable agreements and to do so outside of the courtroom so as to avoid unnecessary costs, time loss, stress and heartache. We operate with flexibility (including location flexibility as well as in-person/virtual breakouts) in order to help meet parties where they are with the goal of reaching allocation agreements that positively impact the parties' companies, communities, and families and do so confidentially and with the highest level of discretion and professional care.

BANKING AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Examination Support; Third Party Contracting, Negotiating and Risk Management; Cyber; AML

Leveraging our substantial experience working directly with the Farm Credit Administration (FCA), the Federal Reserve, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), we offer services to retail, community and commercial banks as well as to credit unions and farm loan associations. Equipped with unparalleled modelling skills in the context of a law practice, we address our Clients' financial and regulatory challenges in this complex and changing landscape. By offering pre-examination preparation, support during examinations, or post-examination services, we are positioned to deliver the critical legal advice our Clients require whether those be examination related or, in other instances, occurring in an ordinary course of business processes. We work with our Client organizations to systematically identify risks and review remediation, monitoring and continuity plans in the context of external vendors and regulators. Together, these services support the critical work of our financial institution Clients in maintaining customer trust, protecting sensitive data, preserving operational resilience, and ensuring regulatory compliance. By working with Rivers Finance Law, our Banking and Financial Institution Clients develop and maintain documented protocols and corrective action plans to enable adherence to consumer protection, fair lending, and anti-money laundering laws and regs while conforming with safety and soundness requirements and principles.

CONTRACTS

Drafting; Negotiation; Dispute Resolution

On behalf of companies and individuals, Rivers Finance Law drafts, negotiates and enforces contracts. These include in the context of corporate procurement as well as buyouts/acquisitions, licensing agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and releases of liability. Emphasizing proactive planning—and recognizing that the cost of professional contract services is minimal compared to the cost of litigation—we encourage Clients to embed best practices in contract drafting. This includes careful attention to structure, provision language, and the drafting process itself, with the goal of maximally leveraging bargaining power. In the context of Contracts work for Banking and Financial Institutions Clients, we also ensure our Clients' agreements reflect enforceable and transparent dispute resolution procedures while working to ensure contract and legal processes are clearly defined and unambiguous to preemptively avoid conflicts and breach claims in the first instance.