The Costs & Benefits of "ADR"

Compared with the cost of litigation, arbitration and mediation provide two very effective and inexpensive methods of resolving disputes. In most cases, even the most comprehensive mediation sessions may be completed within hours rather than months or years of heated and protracted litigation. Where parties cannot reach an agreement, arbitration hearings may be conducted with similar efficiency, yielding decisions in a fraction of the time that congested courts dwell on important cases. Thus, it may well serve the interests of both sides to conduct a "cost-benefit" analysis and to consider alternatives to litigation before proceeding to a "war" in which all may lose in the end.