Are you new to the world of ADR? Here are a few definitions to help you understand this world that exists complementary to the traditional court system. Valerie and Partners is your number 1 dispute resolution firm, here to guide you through the unchartered territory of legal disputes.
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) refers to a range of procedures that serve as alternatives to traditional litigation for the resolution of disputes and generally involves the assistance of a neutral third party. This range of procedures fall along a spectrum. At one end is direct negotiation, at the other end is arbitration.
Direct negotiation is an informal process, generally conducted in private without set rules. Parties are free to agree to whatever outcomes they wish, subject to limits of the law and public policy in enforcing their agreement. Negotiations simply involves discussing the issues in dispute with intention to settle the dispute without the intervention of a third party.
At Valerie and Partners we excel at offering negotiation services at any point of a dispute. Our dispute resolution practitioners are well trained to offer pre-litigation negotiation services on behalf of clients, we engage in the process of communication and compromise on behalf of our clients in order to achieve settlement before a matter proceeds to court. We are committed to serving our clients in the most efficient way possible.
We engage in negotiation during and even after court proceedings or arbitration, we believe that is never too late to settle.
Where parties fail to resolve a dispute through direct negotiation they may resort to the help of a third party through Mediation. This is a confidential and non-binding process by which a neutral third party, a mediator, facilitates communication between the parties to assist them to reach mutually acceptable settlement. In short, it is a facilitated negotiation. Our team is composed of well trained neutrals who excel at helping parties in dispute come to a mutual agreement on the terms of settlement.
Where the parties fail to resolve the dispute through mediation, they then resort to the binding process of Arbitration. This refers to a process in which a private third-party neutral renders a judgment, or award, regarding a dispute after hearing evidence and argument like a judge. Valerie and Partners guide parties through this process to represent the interests of our clients.
Med-Arb is a process which starts with mediation and concludes with arbitration. This occurs where the parties agree before the mediation process that there should be arbitration if the mediation fails. The parties must in their agreement determine whether the same neutral should conduct both processes.
Neutral Case Evaluation is a process by which the parties, their lawyers or both the parties and their lawyers appear before a neutral, present a brief of the evidence and arguments in support of their respective cases. The neutral makes a non-binding evaluation of their positions and gives an opinion concerning the likely outcome if the dispute is tried in court. Based on the evaluation, the parties may decide on what dispute resolution process to use to reach a mutually acceptable agreement. At Valerie and Partners, our team draw from their experience in court processes to offer this service as clients may need an objective opinion to analyse the strength of their case and widen their options.
