Avoiding litigation, if at all possible, should be the first recourse. It saves time, money and resources.
When appropriate for the benefit of clients, Polsinelli Shughart PC suggests Alternative Dispute Resolution. The firm provides extensive services in mediation and arbitration, which can often be an attractive option for businesses and individuals.
ADR offers confidentiality, requires less time away from work for employees and executives, provides a quick resolution, and, in the case of mediation, allows some control over the outcome of the case. Mediation is one alternative to dispose of litigation. The parties in this procedure meet with a mediator and decide the value of a case. The decision is theirs and it is not left up to a judge, jury or appellate court.
Arbitration is a second alternative to avoid litigation. The parties in this procedure give sworn testimony before an arbitrator who then decides the issues in the case. The advantages of this procedure are privacy, no appeal (with rare exceptions), less cost, earlier disposition and finality. Our attorneys have helped provide resolutions in cases that are relatively simple, as well as in complex disputes involving numerous parties and millions of dollars. These have involved cases and issues in:
- Medical malpractice
- Legal malpractice
- Product liability
- Business contract matters
- Explosion cases
- Wrongful death and personal injury
- Telecommunications
- Municipal bond matters
A retired circuit court judge, Timothy D. O’Leary, who tried many civil jury cases in a 20-year period, chairs our ADR department. He has also mediated hundreds of complex litigation cases as well as complex litigation arbitrations and class action arbitrations over the past 19 years, some of which were in Perth, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand.
The firm's lawyers have handled mediation and arbitration not only regionally, but also in locales as diverse as New York and New Zealand.