“This is a book that should not only be on the shelf of every litigation lawyer but should be read thoroughly by both lawyers and non-lawyers alike.” The Expert & Dispute Resolver
Written by a team of experienced lawyers and CEDR mediators, the third edition of the ADR Practice Guide is your essential guide to commercial dispute resolution. It will provide you with a clear and detailed overview of ADR and help you to realise the business opportunities that it can offer.
Split into three sections, this practical guide looks at the conceptual, the legal, and the practical framework of all aspects of ADR and will provide you with:
- Better understanding of how to choose between different processes for dispute resolution
- Advice on the key issues that you may encounter when advising a client on the ADR option, or taking part in the process as a legal representative, mediator or third party
- An overview of the key arguments about the legal status of ADR and an
updated review of the relevant substantial case law
- A detailed explanation of how to set up, prepare for and perform well at a mediation whether as a mediator, a legal representative or a third party
New Legislation – New Case Law – New Content
ADR has undergone substantial growth in the last seven years and has been the subject of considerable judicial attention. This new third edition discusses all the pertinent case law and all relevant legislative changes, including:
- Dunnett v Railtrack
- Halsey v Milton Keynes NHS Trust
- Burchell v Bullard
- Cable & Wireless v IBM
- The EU Draft Directive on ADR
It also contains extensively revised and brand new chapters covering:
- ADR contract clauses
- ADR Orders
- Costs sanctions for declining to use ADR
- The legal principles underpinning ADR processes
- Costs and funding
- The European context
as well as a much expanded section on the law, a table of cases, the latest forms of model mediation and settlement agreements, ADR contract clauses and Codes of Conduct.
Enhance negotiated outcomes and reduce the cost of litigating commercial disputes for business and other clients through a better understanding of the alternatives. This readable and comprehensive guide is an essential addition to the bookshelf of every contentious and transactional lawyer, every mediator, those wanting detailed information about ADR, whether for academic or judicial purposes, and all those needing to resolve their own business disputes.
Reviews:
This is a book that should not only be on the shelf of every litigation lawyer but should be read thoroughly by both lawyers and non-lawyers involved in dispute resolution alike.
For those who already use ADR, it provides an invaluable and comprehensive guide as to how to obtain the best out of the various processes.
For those to whom the processes are new, it is written in a style that is easily read and will provide a valuable and in depth knowledge to help the reader navigate through the process. The book is written from the starting point of no knowledge of the subject matter and thus should answer all those questions that one does not want to ask for fear of appearing stupid!
The book is well set out and divided into three sections.
The first section of the book discusses the concept of ADR. It examines the different types of process and gives detailed consideration to the strengths and weaknesses of each of those processes together with the, often complicated, considerations that parties will, or may, need to make prior to engaging in ADR. The main aim appears to be to enlighten those who remain sceptical of the process.
The second part of the book focuses on the legal framework of ADR and, particularly, mediation within litigation. There is a comprehensive review of how the Courts now view ADR and how those views have developed since the implementation of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (CPR).
For those already engaged in the Court process, Chapters five and six demand special attention. The authors set out clearly what a Judge can, and cannot, Order in terms of ADR. There is a good summary of the practice long-since adopted in the Commercial Courts and that more recently incorporated into the pre-action protocols of the CPR. Thereafter, there is extensive consideration of the costs sanctions that are available to a Judge in terms of penalising a party who has refused to consider participating in an ADR which has either been proposed by one party or indeed suggested by the Judge by way of a Court Order. The summary of case law provided (including reported and unreported decisions) is both convenient and comprehensive.
In the third section, the reader is taken step-by-step through how to prepare for, and what to expect at, a mediation. This section contains various useful "check-lists" which parties or their representatives would be well advised to consider before embarking on the process.
There is then an in-depth look at the role of the mediator. This section is presented in terms designed not only to allay the fears of someone engaging in the process for the first time but perhaps dispel some of the preconceptions. Given the level of detail, it must be hoped that it will (rightly) encourage confidence in the process of ADR.
Overall, the book makes it plain that consideration of ADR is not something to be viewed, in the old fashioned way, as showing a weakness in one's case but rather should be viewed as a strength. Whilst there are people out there who may consider that is a self-serving message, those who wish to serve themselves, or their clients, well are likely to be persuaded and greatly assisted by this book.
The Academy of Experts, Spring 2008
