₦airaland Forum

Disputes or Conflicts are inevitable and are bound to occur among humans. Disputes may arise in our day to day dealings or activities with others, out of business transactions or contracts, where there is an infringement of ones rights by another or where an offence has been committed against another. One important step to take when a Dispute arises apart from identifying the parties to the dispute is to know all the dispute resolution options available to the parties. Basically there are two dispute resolution options available to disputants; Litigation (settlement in court) and ADR (settlement out of court).


ADR which means Alternative Dispute Resolution has evolved overtime as a modern means of resolving disputes. It is a non adversarial form of dispute resolution out of court with a neutral third party. Disputes may be resolved through the different ADR mechanisms such as; Negotiation, Mediation, Conciliation, Arbitration, Early Neutral Evaluation, Med-Arb, etc. Litigation on the other hand is an adversarial form of dispute resolution through a court with a presiding Judge or Jury.


Having distinguished ADR from litigation one may ask if Alternative Dispute Resolution has advantages over litigation and if so what these advantages are. Some of the advantages of ADR over Litigation are;


Less Formality:
ADR is less formal in that the parties are at liberty to choose a mediator, conciliator or an arbitrator depending on the ADR mechanism being used while Litigation is formal as the parties have no right to choose the presiding Judge. This means that parties are free to select a neutral third party of their choice to help in the amicable resolution of their dispute in ADR but in Litigation the opposite is the case as parties cannot choose a Judge to preside over their case.


Flexibility:
ADR is flexible as parties have a right to choose the venue of the dispute resolution and the neutral third party. It allows the parties to work together with the neutral third party in order to resolve the dispute and arrive at a mutually acceptable resolution. Litigation is rigid and there is no choice of venue because there is only one venue for settlement which is the Court.


Speedy and Less expensive:
ADR is usually faster and less expensive. It offers the benefits of getting the issues resolved quicker than it would if taken to court and that means less fees incurred by all parties, however, litigation on the other hand is expensive. It is slow and takes years to have a case heard by a Judge and where there is an Appeal, it can last months or years before Judgement.


Party Participation:
ADR is party oriented and more likely to preserve the relationship of the parties and not escalate the conflict. It permits more participation by the parties and allows the parties the opportunity to tell their side of the story thereby having more control over the outcome than normal Litigation trials controlled by the Counsel and presided over by a Judge.


Confidentiality:
ADR proceedings are private unlike Litigation which is open to the public. The parties can agree that information disclosed during ADR hearings cannot be used later even if attempt to settle through ADR fails and litigation ensues. The final outcome can also be made private if the parties so decide. On the other hand, litigation proceedings are open to the public and the press hence, no form of privacy for the parties.


The above as reiterated earlier are some of the pros of choosing ADR over Litigation in modern times.


In conclusion, although ADR is preferable to litigation in modern times for easy and quick resolution of disputes, there are certain cases that cannot be resolved by any means of ADR such as criminal offences hence, litigation becomes the only legal option in such instance. It is necessary for parties to always be aware of options available to them in order to choose an option that is best suited for the successful resolution of their dispute. Regardless of the advantages which ADR has over Litigation, the circumstances of each case needs to be weighed and carefully analysed in order to determine the dispute resolution option to be adopted.

BY V.C.UCHECHUKWUGAEMEZU ATULOMAH ESQ.

https://legalspectacle.com/adr-vs-litigation-the-pros-of-choosing-adr-over-litigation-in-modern-times/