Means Of Alternative Dispute Settlement Essay Examples

The costs of litigation prevent a significant obstacle to many parties who have a dispute. Litigation is extremely expensive. There are court costs, filing fees, transcription costs, attorney and expert fees, and various other miscellaneous expenses. And on top of that, litigation is very time-consuming. From the time a case is filed in court to the time when a final judgment, it could take years. For these reasons, many people have looked to other ways of resolving disputes.
In recent times, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has seen a massive growth. There are many upsides to ADR. It costs far less than a civil case to resolve a dispute through ADR. Because forms of ADR are not under the penumbra of the court system, the rules are much more flexible and adaptable. The stringent rules of evidence and burdens of proof simply do not apply in the ADR context. Another advantage of ADR is that it is typically a less adversarial environment. In a court case, the parties are adversaries by very nature. In contrast, ADR seeks to resolve conflict between the parties by creating a much more amiable, less antagonistic environment.
There are a number of different forums of ADR. The most effective type of ADR is arbitration. Arbitration resembles a mini-trial, informal trial. A neutral 3rd party arbitrator hears both parties and decides a binding resolution after hearing all the facts and seeing all the evidence. Arbitration has become very popular in the commercial setting because it is much less burdensome and costly than conventional litigation. Arbitration is probably the preferred method of ADR for most people. It offers the finality and disposition of disputes like a court case but without the hassle, time, and expense.
Another popular means of ADR is mediation. In mediation, a neutral 3rd party mediator attempts to facilitate a mutually agreeable solution between the parties. It is a highly structured negotiation process between the parties and the neutral mediator. Oftentimes, simply talking problems and differences out can lead to an agreement. In sharp contrast to an adversarial environment, the goal of mediation is to moderate a productive discussion between the two parties. The mediator will work with both parties reach a common settlement. The key difference between mediation and arbitration is that while arbitration is legally binding, any agreement reached mediation is only advisory and has no legal force. While mediation offers a less antagonistic and hostile environment for parties to sort out differences, if the parties are unable to reach an agreement, mediation is of little help.
A third means of ADR is negotiation. Negotiation shares many similar features of mediation except than in negotiation, there is no 3rd party mediator. Negotiation is probably the least costly method of ADR. All the parties need is a space to discuss the issues and reach a solution. There are no costs associated with negotiation. The drawback to negotiation is that the parties may have issues that cannot simply be negotiated through conversation. There is also no neutral decision-making to help the parties channel their disagreements.