Let’s Settle

Drew Clayton

Resolving Conflict Through Mediation & Arbitration

Calendar

To schedule a mediation session choose a convenient time slot from the real-time calendar below. Complete a brief interactive APPOINTMENT REQUEST to share your contact details and case information. Upon submission, we will promptly confirm your booking and provide the necessary paperwork.

Notifications and reminders are also set up to ensure participants are well-prepared and informed.

STEP 1

CHECK AVAILABILITY

STEP 2

SUBMIT REQUEST

STEP 3

RECEIVE CONFIRMATION

Fee Schedule

Mediation Fee

MEDIATION FEE

Two/Three Party mediations will be billed at a rate of $2,500 for half-day mediations and $5,000 for full-day mediations.

Mediations with four or more parties will be billed an additional $500 per party for half-day mediations or an additional $1,000 per party for full-day mediations.

Additional mediation sessions, if necessary, will be billed at a rate of $2,000 for half-day sessions and $4,000 for full-day sessions.

These flat fees include preparation time, pre-mediation phone calls with counsel, and conducting the mediation itself. Fees for mediation will be divided equally among the parties unless they agree otherwise in writing. Mediator reserves the right to pro-rate the mediation fee if the mediation session extends beyond the allotted half day or full day scheduled session.

Billing Matters<br />

BILLING MATTERS

Fees for mediation are due at least 48 hours in advance of any mediation session. If for any reason payment from one or more parties is not received, the law firm for that party will be held responsible for the payment of the fee. The right to cancel the mediation session is reserved if fees are not received in advance.

Cancellation Policy

CANCELLATION POLICY

You have reserved a specific amount of time for your mediation and, by doing so, that time is not available for other parties and generally cannot be filled if the mediation cancels upon short notice.

A minimum fee of $750 per party for half-day mediations and $1,500 per party for full-day mediations will be charged in the event this scheduled mediation cancels or reschedules within five business days of a scheduled session. I do not waive cancellation fees unless I am able to book another mediation in the reserved time slot as these fees partially compensate me for the loss of use of the time slot reserved and the administrative expenses incurred with the scheduling. I do not arbitrate who is responsible for a cancellation and will bill all parties unless all parties agree otherwise.

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DREW CLAYTON

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SAMPLE

ENGAGEMENT LETTER

GUIDELINES

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MEDIATION

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

W. Andrew

Clayton Jr.

Drew Clayton is a full-time mediator providing mediation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution services with a focus on business, financial, and securities disputes

Drew Clayton

For 36 years, Drew’s legal practice centered on securities arbitration and business litigation. He worked in the securities industry in mutual fund marketing and as a registered representative in New York and New Jersey for five years before he became an attorney. Drew held a number of securities and insurance licenses as a result of that work. He was also the vice president of operations for a New York based company that drilled oil and gas wells for investment partnerships in various states throughout the U.S. in the mid-1980s.

Drew has been involved in hundreds of securities-related disputes during his career and has not only represented customers in cases against financial advisors and brokerage firms, but investors in closely held businesses, securities industry employees in disputes with their former employers, and in regulatory proceedings initiated by state and federal regulators as well as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. He has also engaged in numerous and high-stakes complex business litigation cases in state and federal courts.

Prior to joining Icard Merrill as a shareholder in 2016, Drew was the founder and owner of The Clayton Law Firm, P.A. in Sarasota, Florida for 20 years. Before that, he worked for highly regarded law firms in Florida and New Jersey. Throughout his many years of practice, he has been engaged in securities and business-related litigation and arbitration.

He has been retained as an expert witness regarding attorney’s fee issues for plaintiffs and defendants in securities and business disputes and appointed by the court to act as a receiver in complex trust litigation. He has represented a bankruptcy trustee in complex corporate liquidation proceedings and related litigation. He acted as a guest speaker and panel member in annual meetings of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association.

During law school, Drew was vice president in charge of operations for an oil and gas operating company, managing 57 oil and gas wells throughout the United States from 1985 to 1987. He was also a registered representative with L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg Towbin (1983-1984), and Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. (1984-1985). Prior to that, Drew was in mutual fund marketing with Oppenheimer Management Co. in New York from 1982-1983.

Drew has received the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent rating since 1998, has been designated one of Florida’s Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters (2012-2018, 2020-2024), Best Lawyers in America (2023, 2024), and was recognized by Florida Trend magazine as one of Florida’s Legal Elite (2013, 2014). In 2012, he received the Professionalism Award from the Judge John M. Scheb American Inn of Court.

EDUCATION
  • Seton Hall University School of Law, J.D., Newark, NJ, 1987
  • Seton Hall University, B.A., 1982, South Orange, NJ
  • Washington and Lee University, 1978-1980, Lexington, VA
MEMBERSHIPS, AFFILIATIONS, HONORS, PUBLICATIONS & NEWS

BAR ADMISSIONS

  • New Jersey, 1987
  • New York, 1987
  • Florida, 1988
  • U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, 1988
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 1988
  • U.S. Court of Military Appeals, 1989
  • U.S. District Court, District of Florida, 1992
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, 1992
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, 2014

HONORS

  • AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell®
  • Best Lawyers in America, 2023, 2024
  • Elite Top Attorneys, Sarasota Magazine, 2020, 2021, 2022
  • Florida Super Lawyers, 2012-2017, 2019-2024
  • Legal Elite, Florida Trend Magazine, 2013-2014
  • Professionalism Award, Judge John M. Scheb American Inn of Court, 2012
  • Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator, 2001-present

PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY AFFILIATIONS

  • President, Judge John M. Scheb American Inn of Court, 2010-2011
  • Member, Judge John M. Scheb American Inn of Court, 1993-2013
  • Sarasota County Bar Association
    • President, 2019-2020
    • President-Elect, 2019
    • Director, 2013-2017
  • Public Investors Bar Association, 1992-2002
  • Major, United States Army Reserve, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, 1989-2003
  • President, The Players Theater, Sarasota 1998-2003
  • Founding Scoutmaster, Troop 895, Sarasota, FL 1995-1998
  • Member, Sarasota County Human Services Advisory Council, 2003-2007, 2022-2023
  • Chairman, Sarasota Transitional Housing Committee, 2008-2010
  • Supervisor, University Place Community Development District, 2008-2011
  • President, Sarasota Westwind Flyers, Inc. flying club, 2015-2023
  • President, Sherwood Forest Homeowners Association, 2016–2019

PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

NEWS

 

RESOLVING DISPUTES

SINCE 2001

COMPLETED MEDIATIONS

ARBITRATION PROCEEDING ENGAGEMENTS

COMPLETED ARBITRATION HEARINGS

Case Experience

Business Disputes

Financial Disputes

Securities, Investment & Insurance Related Disputes

  • Appellate
  • Aviation
  • Banking & Finance
  • Bankruptcy/Creditors
  • Business Dissolution
  • Commercial/Business
  • Community Associations
  • Construction
  • Contract Disputes
  • Debt Collections
  • Elder Abuse
  • Eminent Domain
  • Employment
  • Insurance
  • Libel & Slander
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Personal Injury
  • Premises Liability
  • Probate & Estate
  • Professional Liability
  • Professional Malpractice
  • Professional Negligence
  • Real Estate
  • Securities
  • Shareholder Disputes
  • Title Disputes
  • Torts
  • Trusts/Estates
  • Venture Capital
  • Wage & Hour/FMLA