Systematic Analysis in Dispute Resolution

The burgeoning of court litigation and resulting pressure on the judicial system have spawned new ways for attorneys and their clients to resolve disputes quickly and at a lower cost. Alternative dispute resolution is one important way of doing this, and this book explores its theory and practice. The contributors set out to show how to clarify, understand and develop the various options available under alternative dispute resolution, and how to evaluate the probable outcomes. Among the tools available to facilitate dispute resolution are microcomputer-based, rule-based expert systems and, for specific fields of dispute, decision-aiding software. The editors delineate several ways in which participants in a dispute win or lose. The most desirable are the super-optimum solutions in which all sides come out ahead of their best expectations. They argue that win-win solutions are not as desirable as would seem at first glance, since parties come out ahead only in relation to their worst expectations. Subject matter for resolution methods includes disputes involving family members, neighbourhoods, merchants-consumer, management-labour, and legislation and foreign countries.