Options to Resolve Disputes Peacefully – Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)
In 2017, voluntary Alternate Dispute Resolution process resolved 75% of cases and saved over $15 million in legal costs in US according to US Department of Justice data.
Below are some options and how it works:
Mediation – The attempt to settle a dispute through active participation of a third party (mediator), who works to find points of agreement and assist those in conflict agree on a fair result.
- Narrative Mediation – A narrative approach to mediation assumes that mediation participants are the experts on their own lives. Therefore, the role of the mediator is to assist the participants in finding a joint and new narrative or life-story. Thus, a new collaborative story emerges from mediation that helps transform their dispute from being one of victimization to survivor.
- Virtual Mediation – Mediation through online videoconferencing medium.
Arbitration – The third party (arbitrator) acts much like a judge in an out-of-court, less formal setting but does not actively participate in the discussion.
Mediation/Arbitration (Med/Arb) – Med/Arb combines the advantages of both mediation and arbitration in one process, with mediation preceding arbitration. By prior written agreement, participants agree to use one neutral as a mediator, and then, failing resolution through mediation, they allow the same neutral to decide all remaining issues. Depending upon the participants’ desires, the mediator turned arbitrator’s decision on outstanding issues can be advisory or final.
Facilitation – The third party (facilitator), assists a group to meet its objectives by providing them with effective processes and structures.
Conciliation – Conciliation means bringing two opposing sides together to reach a compromise in an attempt to avoid taking a case to trial.
Collaborative Law – The collaborative law ADR model is more of an interdisciplinary approach to settling lawsuits or potential lawsuits in a less adversarial, more cooperative manner. It is a fairly new legal pattern worthy of deeper exploration and analysis since lawyers and parties agree through a formal written contract to settle their conflict without resort to or threat of litigation. If either party seeks court intervention their lawyers must withdraw from further representation in the case.
- Educated Divorce – It is an ADR approach that builds upon the collaborative law model. See more information at Windward Oahu Educated Divorce website at http://edihi.com/.
Private Judging – Private judging or rent-a-judge is done with court approval and agreement of the parties. Usually a court appointed private judge is a retired judge or experienced legal practitioner who is given court permission to take evidence and report back to the court.
Dispute Review Boards (DRB) – A DRB is a panel consisting of each disputant’s (generally non-legal) representative. The panel is chaired by an agreed upon neutral. The panel is charged with dealing with issues that arise during the life of the project. The DRB is formed prior to the commencement of a project pursuant to an agreed upon contract between the parties. The DRB keeps the participants focused on the pre-agreed goals of the undertaking. Generally used in the building construction field, although they can have wider commercial applicability.
Partnering – Used primarily in the construction industry, yet has wide application to other fields as well. The business assumption behind the concept of partnering is that people connected by their interests—constructing a skyscraper, making a major movie, jointly developing a new electronic industry and sharing the profits thereby—can be expected to act reasonably together and resolve their differences as they arise in the moment and not at the conclusion of the project undertaken.
Reference: Light on Peacemaking: A Guide To Appropriate Dispute Resolution and Mediating Family Conflict / Chapter 2: ADR Processes by Thomas DiGrazia
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