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Alternative Dispute Resolution

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Mediate or Litigate? – You choose

If you’ve ever been to Court then you know what a phenomenally expensive, deeply stressful, time consuming and ultimately unsatisfactory process this can be. We do it, though, because often we don’t think that there’s any form of alternative dispute resolution. There is – try to resolve a dispute through Mediation. The Courts now recognise that the resolution of disputes through Litigation should be something that the parties embark upon only when all else has failed and parties in a dispute are now positively encouraged to find some form of alternative dispute resolution, in other words a method of trying to settle their differences quickly, inexpensively and informally. As high a Court as the Court of Appeal have decided that parties to a dispute should be encouraged to keep talking and try to reach agreement if necessary through alternative dispute resolution. Indeed, if they don’t, the Court may well order a party who won’t try to settle by a means of alternative dispute resolution to pay all or part of the Court costs of Litigation, irrespective of whether they have won! Mediation is but one means of alternative dispute resolution whereby a speedy, cost effective and informal solution can often be found.

“ It has been widely recognised for some while that mediation is the most cost efficient and effective method of the resolution of civil and commercial disputes. Statistics suggest that between 80/85% of cases referred to mediation settle at or shortly after mediation.”