Dispute Resolution

Traditional litigation will always prove costly whether in terms of time, money, stress or unwanted publicity. Although there are times when the traditional route is unavoidable, in many cases there are solutions - now being promoted by the judges - which enable disputes to be resolved in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost which the Court process entails.

For many years we have encouraged our clients to consider avoiding the Court process and to opt instead for "ADR" (Alternative Dispute Resolution). There are many variants - the commonest are arbitration (a binding decision is made by one or more independent third parties) and mediation (the parties are encouraged by an independent third party to reach their own agreement).

Marriott Harrison has a wealth of arbitration and ADR experience. Peter Curnock is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and has been involved in many arbitrations including those between Governments and major industrial concerns, between shareholders and between building contractors and their employers. Mediations have ranged from the relatively modest in value involving shareholders in a private company to multi-million pound, multi-party, multi-jurisdictional banking fraud claims. Recent mediations in which the Litigation team has acted have included those relating to copyright in cinema advertising, a complex computer software claim, a $40 million aluminium recycling plant dispute and a claim between neighbouring farmers.

The overwhelming majority of the mediations with which the firm has been involved have resulted in an amicable settlement.