Alternative Dispute Resolution
Mediation and arbitration counsel that helps clients resolve disputes outside the courtroom.
Overview
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), including mediation and arbitration, lets parties settle conflicts outside the courtroom. These methods can reduce costs and lower risk, and they are generally treated as the preferred approach for resolving disputes in nearly all civil practice areas. When clients enter contracts, the firm advises them on whether to choose mediation, arbitration, or both for resolving future disputes. Arbitration clauses are common in construction, lease, and lending agreements, and mediation clauses are becoming more widespread across contract types. Courts also frequently require mediation before a case proceeds to trial, even when the parties never agreed to ADR.
The firm helps clients determine when and how ADR can work to their advantage. Its analysis covers factors such as cost savings, whether mediation should take place before the expense of discovery in litigation, and how a party can respond to a lawsuit without giving up any contractual right to arbitrate.
The practice area is supported by substantial ADR experience. One shareholder is a certified mediator who has taught an ADR course at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis for many years. The firm's attorneys have also served as mediators and arbitrators in major litigation and contract disputes for parties throughout the South.
