Alternative Dispute Resolution

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Overview

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) can offer many advantages over the traditional litigation process. It provides efficiency, affordability, flexibility and confidentiality. The parties have greater control of the outcome and the potential for creative solutions to disputes. Far less adversarial than litigation, ADR helps preserve and enhance business relationships.

OUR Comprehensive Service
Lawyers in Stradley Ronon’s alternative dispute resolution practice group are experienced in all forms of ADR and are skilled at using dispute resolution strategically to our clients’ advantage. We serve as client advocates, where we handle negotiations, mediations and arbitrations, and provide clients with ADR advice; our services also include early case assessments and guidance regarding how best to resolve disputes. In addition, we negotiate, draft and enforce ADR clauses, design conflict management systems for businesses, and provide educational seminars and instruction regarding the use of ADR.

When representing clients, our ADR strategies and practices enable our clients to achieve results that further their business goals, reduce expense and delay in resolving disputes, and avoid the distractions to management that prevent them from focusing on their businesses.

Our cross-disciplinary ADR practice group includes lawyers with deep experience in litigation, banking and financial services, corporate, intellectual property, insurance and employment law.

Recognized Leaders in ADR
Stradley Ronon attorneys have served with distinction as neutrals, both independently and under the auspices of ADR provider organizations such as the American Arbitration Association, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR). Our attorneys have built a reputation for fairness and creative problem solving and are highly regarded for their ability to understand complex commercial transactions and cutting-edge technologies. In recognition of its commitment to principled and creative conflict-management and resolution, Stradley Ronon’s ADR practice group received CPR’s inaugural Law Firm Award for Excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Advocating for Our Clients
Through sophisticated ADR counseling and advocacy, we work to save time and money for our clients and help them achieve solutions to disputes that meet their business objectives.

We work closely with clients to assess disputes at their inception. Balancing business interests, goals and legal rights, our attorneys consider the parties’ relationship and our clients’ desired outcome. Then we offer guidance on selecting the best means to resolve the dispute, whether through negotiation, litigation or ADR.

Equally skilled in ADR and litigation, we are proud of our record of protecting our clients’ interests both in and out of court.

The Value We Offer
From single-owner and closely held businesses to Fortune 500 companies, our clients benefit from our effective use of ADR, which includes:

avoiding disputes
maintaining privacy and confidentiality
selecting and using highly qualified decision makers and mediators
managing disputes cost-effectively
preserving relationships
resolving disputes expeditiously
achieving outcomes based on business objectives

OUR Record as Neutrals
Recognized for their skill as mediators and arbitrators, senior Stradley Ronon ADR practice group members routinely serve as neutrals at the request of lawyers nationwide. Our lawyers also serve by appointment through organizations that act as clearinghouses for ADR services and are known for high standards and thorough vetting of practitioners. Stradley Ronon neutrals have a well-earned reputation for creatively mediating solutions, and for fairly and promptly rendering arbitral awards.

OUR Counseling & Advocacy Services

ADR

providing ADR counseling and advocacy services
resolving disputes through negotiation, arbitration, mediation and all other forms of ADR
structuring customized ADR options

Mediation Counsel

proposing mediation to adversaries
selecting mediators
designing the mediation process
providing mediation advocacy
representing clients in mediation
devising negotiating strategies
establishing mediation policies and procedures

Arbitration Counsel

selecting arbitrators
providing arbitration advocacy

Evaluation Counsel

evaluating factual and legal positions of clients and their adversaries
offering initial and second opinions

Parallel Track Settlement Counsel

conducting ADR in tandem with litigation
serving as negotiators and facilitators
interacting with opposing counsel to resolve disagreements
identifying and implementing opportunities for resolution

To read more about our parallel track settlement counsel capabilities, click on the image below.

Institutionalizing ADR within Companies

assisting with gaining management buy-in
educating and training managers and employees
devising and implementing an ADR plan and accompanying policies and procedures
establishing evaluation tools
establishing ADR best practices

Designing Systems to Avoid/Manage Disputes

providing ADR education
employing early screening systems
establishing outside counsel retention policies
creating a system for resolving employment disputes through ADR, including:
- early grievance procedures
- mediation/arbitration
- enforceability issues

Drafting ADR Provisions in Contracts

negotiating, drafting and enforcing ADR clauses in contracts with vendors, employees and business partners, among others
drafting multistep provisions
addressing key issues, including:
- confidentiality
- scope of the provision
- selection of neutrals
- governing rules
- forum selection
- choice of law

International ADR