Dispute Settlement Counsel

Posts Tagged ‘Dispute Resolution Advocacy’

Part III. Preserving Important Relationships February 7, 2009

How important is it to parties in a dispute to preserve relationships? There are many types of relationships that are central to a dispute: Between contractors and subcontractors, teachers and administrators, pastors and parishioners, doctors and patients, divorcing husbands and wives, family members of a family business, partners of a company, family members in a probate process, non-profit organizations and independent contractors they work with, builders and homeowners, to name some.

One of the factors that make a case a good candidate for using non-adversarial approaches to dispute resolution is the importance of preserving the business, organizational or family relationship and keeping it healthy. If the relationship must survive the dispute, if there will be ongoing dealings or contact between the disputing parties after the dispute is resolved, then ADR approaches like collaborative law, case evaluation and mediation have added value. Like it or not, adversarial positional processes like arbitration and litigation, at the very least, put a strain on relationships and often destroy them altogether. And when the parties go too deep into the litigation process before they turn to a mediator to assist in reaching a settlement, even if the mediation does result in a settlement, the relationships may have already been seriously damaged. The sooner the parties turn to an ADR process, the better the possibility of preserving these important and ongoing relationships.   Read the rest of this entry »