I’m a business owner. I dedicate most of my day to running the business. I grew up in a society that solves problems immediately. I don’t have an attorney on staff and I don’t have a reserve fund for litigation. I don’t have time to take away from my business for three to five years of litigation. Isn’t there an alternative to litigation? Why do the lawyers want to sue everyone?
If you have similar thoughts, you should ask about alternative dispute resolution. Ask your attorney about conflict prevention, conflict avoidance, conflict management, and dispute resolution without litigation. Greater than 90% of all conflicts are settled before trial and yet discovery, depositions, expert opinions, and numerous filings over a three to five year period leading up to the trial means big business for most law firms.
Lawyers are in a service profession and respond to the needs and demands of the clients. And yet, many see dollar signs when it comes to dispute resolution. For the client, in many cases, little if any value is created by the litigation process.
Until clients ask for alternatives to litigation such as mediation, arbitration, or the collaborative process, most law firms will continue to push litigation as the only method of resolving disputes.
Certainly, for some situations and some clients, litigation is the best method; but for many, the alternatives are very attractive.
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