A magnet for positive change

Mediation is attracting a whole new generation of users as there is increasing recognition of more productive ways to resolve disputes. Our system of justice is a socially approved form of combat conducted according to a professionally crafted set of rules and laws enforced by neutral third parties...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Dispute resolution journal 2003-08, Vol.58 (3), p.49
Main Author: Schwartz, Steven L
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Advantages
Alternative dispute resolution
Arbitration
Attorneys
Breach of contract
Collaboration
Conflict resolution
Court decisions
Disputes
Federal court decisions
Law
Litigation
Mediation
Mediators
Securities industry
Trends
Trials
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Summary:Mediation is attracting a whole new generation of users as there is increasing recognition of more productive ways to resolve disputes. Our system of justice is a socially approved form of combat conducted according to a professionally crafted set of rules and laws enforced by neutral third parties - judges and juries in whom we have vested the power to decide the dispute. The client plays almost no role. Eventually, discovery either reveals that one side is right and the other wrong, or that neither side's position is superior. In either situation, the case proceeds on the assumption that it will be tried. all cases that are filed in court proceed according to this system. Yet, only a tiny group - about 3 % - of all filed cases actually go to trial. So, it seems that the adversarial method of resolving disputes is practiced in anticipation of a chimera - a trial that will never happen. Given the statistical evidence, however, it is a settlement of the case that is almost predestined to occur - with trial being the alternative. Seen in this light, one might even say that a trial is alternative dispute resolution.
ISSN:1074-8105
2573-606X