Alternate Dispute Resolution
Mediation and Conflict Resolution
Mediation is a process which brings two opposing parties to a table in the attempt to encourage them to develop their own resolution to a dispute. The traditional means of conflict resolution, of antagonistic litigation is costly, and creates a win-loose atmosphere between the parties. Through mediation, the two parties have the opportunity to create their own solution. Mediated agreements tend to lesson the adversarial roles which disagreeing parties play, and their agreements tend to have a great degree of staying power, since the agreements are voluntary. Although many different mediation, and alternate dispute resolution (ADR) methods are presently in use, arbitration and direct mediation are the most common. Other methods are often simply variants of these two ADR techniques.
In mediation, one or more neutral individuals are selected to assist the parties at conflict in negotiating a compromise. Mediators do not have the authority to make a decision in the case, but they can often facilitate communication. Where a compromise cannot be reached, the claim must be resolved by some other method, usually litigation or arbitration.
By contrast, in arbitration a neutral individual or panel of individuals is selected to consider the evidence at an informal hearing and reach a decision on the claim. Typically, arbitration is "binding," meaning the arbitrator's decision will be recognized and enforced in a court of law, and the parties cannot litigate the claim in court. (Ellis, 1996) Accordingly, in binding arbitration, arbitrators serve as a substitute for the judge and jury. In some instances arbitration may be "nonbinding." In this type of arbitration, the decision of the arbitrator...
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a dispute resolution process that acts as a means of using an external party to settle disagreements between two parties Colbran, 2012. ADR has now become widespread and accepted by many states and counties in the United States. In the recent past, some courts have demanded that some parties use ADR to settle their cases. If the mediation process of ADR does not reach an agreement
In particular, Jennifer Shack (2003) notes that mediation can save time and money and improve the satisfaction of those using the court system, but only under certain conditions. Shack (2003) notes that the type of mediation program used is important in seeing advantages over legal actions. She notes that while there has been a "tendency has been to equate one mediation program with another and to assume the effectiveness of
Furthermore, he has displayed extreme anger towards her and appears completely unwilling to compromise. He wishes to keep both the house and Eduardo to himself, as he seems to feel betrayed by Cherry, and wants as little as possible contact with her. Cherry in turn is worried about the effect of this upon her child. The requirements for mediation have therefore only been fulfilled by Cherry, whereas Giovani appears to
The primary challenge with online dispute resolution is that the online world does not perfectly mirror the real world. Mediation is typically most effective if the parties of the dispute are physically present with the mediator, yet with online dispute resolution there is a level of impersonality that interferes with the mediation process ("The pros," 2003). Although there are benefits to the asynchronous nature of e-mail, mediation is sometimes more
" (U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, nd) This is a voluntary mediation agreement, which may opt out of by the employer or the employee. The benefits of the UAM include: (1) "UAM demonstrates from the outset a company's willingness to mediate on cases eligible for mediation - this may contribute to the ultimate satisfactory resolution of a matter; (2) With a UAM, the initial step of contacting the employer to
Both parties present evidence to a neutral party. However, the neutral party acts as a mediator, not simply as a finder of fact. The neutral attempts to help the parties settle the dispute based upon the neutral's evaluation of the case. The mini-trial suffers from the same drawbacks as the summary jury trial. However, its greatest strength is that, once the neutral has shown both parties their likelihood of
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