Alternative Dispute Resolution – Arbitration & Mediation Expertise
“ADR” or alternative dispute resolution can actually cover myriad different methods to resolve your case without going to court. Typically, when people talk about arbitration or mediation they mean to involve someone experienced with settlement of civil cases to assist in getting the case resolved before trial. Over 97% of civil cases are heard in either arbitration or mediation. The difference between mediation and arbitration are that in mediation, the neutral (judge or third-party attorney) does not make a “decision” or “ruling”. Rather, in mediation, the mediator helps the parties reach a mutually agreeable settlement or “mediated” resolution of the case. With arbitration, the setting is a bit more formal and the arbitrator considers the evidence and rules or makes a decision that is binding absent an appeal to the superior court. This appeal is often referred to as “de novo” as it is to “do new” — the court looks at the evidence and it is a “do over” in many regards. A neutral or third-party can also help in Informal dispute resolution. By having an evaluation or an impartial third party consider the evidence and render an opinion, rather than a decision, the parties can often make progress in negotiating with reaching their own settlement, giving each party enough of what they need to walk away from litigation.