Much has been written about the painful and economic costs of litigation, and these costs are a fact of American life: no one wants to sue or be sued, and anyone who has is unlikely to want to repeat the experience. Over the past two decades, the legal profession has seen a rise in what is called alternative dispute resolution, or ADR. ADR generally refers to three ways of solving problems: negotiation, arbitration, and mediation.

Negotiation is just what it sounds like: the parties and their lawyers get together to hash out an agreement. Books such as Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury of the Harvard Negotiation Project describe useful techniques to make negotiations smooth and civil, and to ensure that each party gets what they want without feeling wronged.

Arbitration refers to a process where the parties submit their grievances to a third person, an arbitrator, who makes a decision that the parties agree to be bound to. The arbitration process is commonly used in sports and union disputes.

It has been my personal observation, however, that mediation is one of the best ways for potential litigants to resolve their disputes. In mediations, the parties themselves–with or without their lawyers–discuss their problem with the aid of a mediator, an unbiased and uninterested third-party who acts as a referee. The mediator’s job is to act as a facilitator, setting the bounds of the discussion and helping the parties come to an agreement that they choose to be bound by. The mediator does not make decisions for the party, though he may make suggestions from time to time.

Some of the advantages of mediation are that it is private, voluntary, and much more cost effective than litigation. Mediators, such as Safe Harbor, Inc., are a great place to start if you are looking to resolve a legal dispute without the pains of a trial.

alternative dispute resolution · arbitration · Getting to Yes · Harvard Negotiation Project · law · mediation · negotiation · Safe Harbor