Beata Nowicka

Experience in the architecture of compromise

Beata joined the Chodkiewicz & Partners team in March 2017. Since then, she has conducted 47 full settlement processes in the construction and energy sectors. She specializes in situations where three or four companies must agree on the distribution of contractual penalties or delays on a construction site. She believes that facts win over emotions, which is why she always starts her work with an audit of project documentation from the last 7 months of cooperation between the parties.

Conflict work methodology

In a mediator's work, we look for touchpoints instead of deepening differences between business partners. Beata uses a 12-stage claim verification system, which shortens negotiation time by an average of 31% compared to standard court proceedings. In 2023 alone, she closed 11 difficult disputes, where the total value of claims was 3.8 million PLN. Each session ends with a specific entry in the protocol, which contains an average of 19 pages of precise technical and financial findings.

Effectiveness confirmed by numbers

We build the architecture of compromise based on hard data, not on promises. Beata often works directly in construction offices or at contractors' headquarters to understand the technical source of a problem. In October 2023, she saved a cooperation in an IT consortium where a lawsuit for 420k PLN was threatened due to system integration errors. The mediation lasted 14 business days and ended with the signing of an annex accepted by all 4 project partners.

Knowledge and substantive preparation

She has 8 years of experience in mediation, which allows her to quickly catch attempts to manipulate data during talks. She completed 156 hours of certified training in crisis negotiations and risk analysis. Beata believes that a mediator is not there to soothe moods, but for calculation and logic. In her work, she uses decision tree analysis tools, which helps parties see the real costs of a potential court trial in a 3-year perspective.

Approach to multi-party disputes

She focuses on ensuring that each side leaves the meeting with the feeling that it has secured its most important financial interests. Her effectiveness in bringing about a settlement at the pre-trial stage currently stands at 67% for high-difficulty cases. We look for touchpoints even where communication has been completely cut off. Beata ensures that every established payment or delivery deadline is realistic to execute, which eliminates the return of conflict after 2-3 months from the settlement.