The Goals of ADR
The Benefits to Our Clients
Counseling and Advocacy Services
Parallel Track Settlement Counsel

Stradley Ronon considers the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to be an integral part of the practice of law and the advice we give to our clients. Our ADR strategies and practices enable us to achieve results that further our clients’ business goals, reduce the expense and delay associated with resolving disputes, and avoid the distractions to management which prevent our clients from focusing on their business plans.

Our ADR Practice Group includes 15 lawyers from diverse disciplines with sophisticated experience in litigation, corporate law, intellectual property, insurance, employment, and banking and financial products and services.

The CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution awarded Stradley Ronon's ADR Practice Group the inaugural "Law Firm Award for Excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution" for their "commitment to principled and creative conflict-management and resolution."

The Goals of ADR
At Stradley Ronon, our approach to dispute resolution encompasses the design of innovative systems to avoid and manage disputes. The approach embraces a full range of resolution options, including negotiation, litigation, arbitration, mediation and customized ADR options.

When a dispute arises, we work closely with our client to assess the dispute at its inception. Our ADR lawyers have developed a suitability screen to assist in deciding whether a particular dispute should be resolved through negotiation, litigation or ADR. Our attorneys focus on the rights and the interests of the parties, the relationships and the outcomes sought. Our analysis recognizes that the underlying business interests are invariably as important to our clients as are issues such as legal rights.

Where there is a need to obtain an injunction, to protect a strategic interest, to defend a frivolous suit or to establish a precedent, litigation may well be the best choice – and we are proud of our record in court. At the same time, for many business disputes, ADR can be an enormously powerful tool to resolve disputes early, cost-effectively and fairly. The process of mediation, in particular, offers creative business solutions not available in either litigation or arbitration.

In sum, a sound ADR analysis enables our clients to look at a dispute as a unique problem to be solved. Through sophisticated ADR counseling and advocacy techniques, we can save time and money for our clients and help them achieve solutions to disputes consistent with the objectives of their business.

The Benefits to Our Clients
ADR can be an effective way to resolve disputes for all types of businesses – from single-owner to closely held to Fortune 500. In many of the cases in which we employed ADR techniques, our clients benefited from the resulting:

• Dispute avoidance
• Privacy and confidentiality
• Cost-effective dispute management return
• Preservation of relationships
• Expeditious dispute resolution
• Outcomes based on business objectives
• Control by the parties over the process and the outcome
• Enhanced morale in the workplace
• Satisfied vendors and customers

Counseling and Advocacy Services
Stradley Ronon’s ADR Practice Group offers ADR services including:

ADR
• ADR counseling/advocacy
• Negotiation, mediation, arbitration, litigation
• Customized ADR options

Settlement Counsel
• Evaluation/risk assessments
• Second opinions
• Settlement strategies
• Settlement advocacy

Mediation Counsel
• Proposing mediation to adversary
• Selecting mediator
• Design of mediation process
• Mediation advocacy
• Negotiating strategies

Arbitration Counsel
• Selecting arbitrators
• Drafting arbitration clauses in contracts
• Arbitration advocacy

Institutionalizing ADR within Company
• Management buy-in
• Education and training
• Implementation of plan
• Evaluation tools
• Best practices

Design of Systems to Avoid/Manage Disputes
• ADR education
• Early screening systems
• Outside counsel retention policies
• Employment ADR
­   - Early grievance procedures
­   - Mediation/arbitration
­   - Enforceability issues

Drafting ADR Provisions in Contracts
• Multi-step provisions
• Key issues
­   - Confidentiality
­   - Scope of provision
­   - Selection of neutral
 ­  - Governing rules
 ­  - Forum
   ­- Choice of law

International ADR
• Drafting issues in cross-border transactions
• Enforceability
• Choice of law/forum
• Advocacy issues
• Language and culture
• International treaties

Parallel Track Settlement Counsel
Defining Parallel Track Settlement Counsel
Parallel track settlement counsel are seasoned Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practitioners who work in tandem with litigators trying a case. While allowing trial counsel to position the case for successful disposition by motion or trial, settlement counsel play the role of negotiator and facilitator, focusing on open dialogue, dispute resolution and conflict management. They interact with opposing counsel to resolve disagreements, from the smallest discovery dispute to global resolution of the entire case, leaving trial counsel free to strategize, develop and execute in order to prevail in the courtroom.

The paradigm is this: On receipt of a new case from a client, the matter is assigned to two kinds of lawyers – litigation counsel and settlement counsel. They serve distinct roles – trial counsel remain focused on motion practice and trial, while settlement counsel stay attuned to opportunities for resolution. The heat of battle can sometimes chill diplomacy. Settlement counsel ensure that the parties do not miss chances to move toward resolution, when that is in the client’s best interests.

Click on the image below to learn more about our capabilities in this area.