Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: ADR vs. Civil Litigation

ADR is mediation or arbitration. Litigation is prosecuting a lawsuit. Often, a judge will send a case to mediation or arbitration to try to get it resolved, thereby saving the court and litigants' time and money.

Re: ADR vs. Civil Litigation

As between business entities or other people with roughly equal bargaining power, ADR can be of mutual advantage. There are two kinds of ADR, mediation and arbitration.

A mediator is an experienced neutral party who can help the parties to a dispute explore settlement possibilities (if there are any).

An arbitrator is somebody who is agreed upon to finally decide a dispute. Most arbitrations are

"binding," in other words the result is enforceable in court. Arbitration can be accomplished in less time and with less formaility than a court proceeding, but there may be pitfalls.

In any situation where you, as a consumer, are presented with a take-it-or-leave-it arbitration clause, such as in a real estate transaction, auto purchase, or at a doctor's office, this is nearly always to your great disadvantage and your best option is to politely refuse.

Re: ADR vs. Civil Litigation

ADR means "alternative dispute resolution" and encompasses many alternatives to litigation of civil disputes, of which mediation and arbitration are the best-known examples, but there are several other recognized types of ADR that are essentially variants on mediation.

(Older forms of "ADR" such as dueling and trial by ordeal are nowadays frowned upon.)

ADR is often effective, and when it is, it's usually faster and cheaper than trial. Not all types of civil disputes are suitable for ADR, but a surprising portion of lawsuits that are referred to ADR by court order do settle without trial, even those where the parties seem to have planted their feet.