MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – One of America’s best known mediators, Eric D. Green, will handle negotiations as the state and Exxon Mobil try to settle their $3.6 billion dispute over natural gas royalties.

The Alabama Supreme Court has ordered mediation in the case, and court records show the two sides have agreed upon Green to handle the talks.

“He’s very experienced and very recognized,” Exxon Mobil spokesman Bob Davis said Wednesday.

The two sides and Green are scheduled to meet July 30. When the Supreme Court approved Green’s selection, it gave the two sides until the end of July to reach an agreement.

Green, a law professor at Boston University, is perhaps best known for serving as a mediator in 2001 when the Justice Department and Microsoft reached a tentative settlement of the government’s antitrust case.

In 2002, he was the mediator in unsuccessful negotiations between Arthur Andersen and lawyers for investors suing the firm over the collapse of Enron.

He also served as the mediator in 2003 when Solutia and Monsanto agreed to pay $700 million to settle claims by more than 20,000 Anniston residents over PCB contamination.

Alabama’s Exxon Mobil case has a bigger potential price tag than the PCB contamination settlement.

In November, a Montgomery County Circuit Court jury awarded a record $11.9 billion verdict to the state in a legal dispute accusing Exxon Mobil of intentionally underpaying royalties from natural gas wells drilled in state-owned waters along the Alabama coast.

In March, Circuit Judge Tracy McCooey reduced the verdict to $3.6 billion to bring it in line with U.S. Supreme Court guidelines on large verdicts.

Exxon Mobil appealed to the state Supreme Court, arguing that the verdict was still excessive. That appeal led to the order for mediation.

According to court records, the state and Exxon Mobil will share the cost of having Green mediate the case.