A.D.R. - Better Than "A Day" (Or Several Months) In Court

Another important devlopment in Civil Litigation is Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

The cases which we accept involve serious calamities or matters of important principle.

One of our cases involved a young man whose sexual orientation and HIV positive status was used as a basis for hysterical discrimination on the job, including cruel and illegal firing based on a false and humiliating pretext (eating chips from a bowl at a Christmas party).

Based on Chris’ experience with employment and wrongful discharge cases, it was decided that the young man’s employer, Viacom Cablevision, might be induced to accept an Alternative Dispute Resolution method in lieu of trial, especially considering the sensitive nature of the case.

The ADR methods include binding arbitration, private arbitration by experienced retired judges and, best of all, mediation!

Mediation is accomplished when a trial date is imminent and the parties have gone through the complicated process of civil discovery.

Pre-Trial Discovery:
A Minefield Of Mandatory Information Exchanges
And Deadlines For Doing So

Civil Discovery can be a thicket of procedural rules, stiff monetary sanctions, and automatic dismissal of a civil litigant’s case for any sort of failure to comply, even if the default is unintended.

Even the clearest case is often fought very hard where it may cost a large institution or corporation a substantial sum of money to compensate a victim or to settle a wrong. It is the plaintiff’s duty to put all of his or her information together in complete and verified formats as required by the Civil Discovery Act. The plaintiff must also compel disclosure of evidence by the opponent.

Your law firm must have the stamina, determination and expertise to survive the onslaught of procedural maneuvers based on the Civil Discovery Rules which are designed to defeat the plaintiff. Both production of plaintiff’s case and discovery of the opponent’s case must be done right to avoid dismissal based on defense motions.

Mediation

However, once that onslaught is behind us, we find that an expert mediator with a full involvement in the case can settle even the most difficult cases, often by means of marathon sessions lasting into the wee hours, accompanied by frank and candid disclosure by each side. Perhaps most important is the utmost candor which generates the good faith necessary to voluntary resolution.

We pride ourselves in knowing which Alternative Dispute Resolution services best serve our clients. Our hands-on familiarity with fast track, ADR and the civil discovery codes are absolute requirements for the level of advocacy merited by our clients’ legal cases, large or small.