About Jay Skelton

James J. Skelton, Jr.

When seeking to resolve their client’s disputes, attorneys in New York and Connecticut rely on Jay Skelton for his insight, knowledge and understanding developed through a legal career spanning 35 years as a litigator and 25 years in alternative dispute resolution.

Jay conducts mediation and arbitration sessions in conventional face-to-face settings, as well as via Zoom, WebEx and other online media.

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203-351-9111

Arbitrator

In 2002, Jay was appointed as an arbitrator in the State of New York and has since arbitrated thousands of cases involving disputes of medical claims, insurance coverage questions, conflicts of law, denials based on policy violation, denials based on peer reviews or independent medical examinations and cases involving policy exhaustion.

When acting as an arbitrator or mediator, Jay practices many of the skills he learned as a transformative mediator. He has a thorough understanding of the human condition and knows that each party involved in his ADR sessions comes with a complex set of emotions that are always taken into account.

Disputes of medical claims, insurance coverage questions, and conflicts of law

Denials based on policy violation, peer reviews, or independent medical examinations

Policy exhaustion

Mediator

Jay has years of experience working as a mediator and training lawyers around the country in effective mediation strategies. Recently, Jay was asked to mediate a group of approximately 390 separate medical claims involving one provider and an insurance company. The case involved a fee schedule interpretation for the disputed claims. A global resolution of the disputed claims was successfully attained after a one-day mediation.

As a mediator, Jay understands the importance of empathy, active listening and patience, which enables better communication between the parties. Through pre-mediation conferences, Jay can identify what may be hindering effective communication, determine each party’s objectives and communicate effectively with the parties and their attorneys to facilitate negotiations and keep everyone engaged and motivated so that a fair resolution can be achieved.

Former Litigator

Prior to becoming an arbitrator, Jay practiced for 15 years in the field of personal injury and medical malpractice litigation, representing both plaintiffs as well as insurance companies, including Transamerica, Allstate and Interboro. In his private litigation practice, Jay represented clients in numerous federal and state actions.

As a litigation attorney, Jay tried cases in the federal courts in the Southern, Northern and Eastern Districts of New York. Jay was also co-lead counsel for the plaintiff in a litigation involving a 107-acre parcel of land in Brookfield, Connecticut. The case involved the condemnation of a rock quarry by the State of Connecticut in order to create the Route 7 bypass in Brookfield, Connecticut. This case resulted in a $29.4 million verdict, which was one of the largest condemnation verdicts in the State of Connecticut.

Bar and Court Admissions

New York, 1986
Connecticut, 1995

Education

J.D., St. John’s University, 1985
B.S., Providence College, 1982

Online Case Management

The office of Connecticut and New York arbitrator and mediator Jay Skelton is a proud partner of Case Anywhere, a leading online case management provider specializing in setting up and hosting legal proceedings on its secure website.

Through this alliance, we aim to provide clients and lawyers with a streamlined and efficient way to handle their cases. The platform allows all parties to exchange documents, communicate about case matters and track upcoming events.

Case Anywhere lets us move forward efficiently in your proceeding from beginning to end. In nearly every case, clients incur no additional cost.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a collective term given to the different ways to deal with legal disputes without resorting to the courts. The two methods most commonly used in ADR are mediation and arbitration; these both require the use of a neutral third party who encourages and facilitates a solution that aims to resolve the conflict.

If you’re uncertain whether ADR would work for you, please look at the following list of frequently asked questions and their corresponding answers before hiring an attorney.

What type of disputes may be addressed through ADR?

Any type of case can be mediated as long the parties want to resolve the case.

What are the main advantages of ADR?

Ease of use and speedy resolution of cases. ADR can save the parties time and money.

How long does ADR typically take?

Depending on the complexity of the case, mediation can take several hours to several days whereas litigation can take years.

Is the ADR process confidential?

Yes, all information is confidential unless the parties give permission to disclose.

What happens if an agreement can’t be reached through ADR?

If mediation doesn’t work the parties can continue with their litigation. Mediation is an attempt to resolve the dispute outside of the litigation.

Fee Payment

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