Disputes are a necessary part of human endeavor and in Nigeria parties to a dispute commonly resort to the Law Courts to determine the validity or otherwise of their positions. Its however a fact that most Nigerians are reluctant to approach the courts because of the time delays in getting results which has led to aggrieved persons taking laws into their hands or trying to influence the law enforcement agents to deal with their perceived opponents.

The cost and delays associated with litigation is not peculiar to Nigeria but rather a worldwide phenomenon which has led to the development of Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems (usually referred to as ADR) which essentially is a means of settling disputes outside of the courtroom. In Nigeria, the Lagos State Government has blazed the trail by creating the Lagos Multi Door Court (LMDC) whose basic function is to allow easy access to justice, reduce delay, and generally assists parties to reach agreements that meet their interests, preserve relationships, save time and money. The LMDC is empowered by Law to handle all manner of cases including but not limited to banking, divorce, maritime, telecommunication, energy, administrative, civil rights, education, employment, environmental, insurance, intellectual property/ technology, labour, personal injury, probate, product liability, professional malpractice/ negligence, real property, securities etc.

Our focus this week is on Alternative Dispute Resolution with specific reference to the Lagos Multi Door Court System and the advantages of settling disputes with this model rather than time consuming Court room Litigation. Click to read more... http://ioclaw.com/index.php/blog/item/21-save-time-and-money-try-lagos-multi-door-court