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Grassroots Movement to Promote ADR

Grassroots Movement to Promote ADR

Friday, May 09, 2025 2:52 PM | Anonymous

How do we spark a grassroots movement that encourages the public to choose dispute resolution first—before turning to the courtroom—and why is this important?

What are your thoughts?

(Guest post by Gary Doernhoefer / ADR Notable)

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Friday, May 09, 2025 3:16 PM | Ursula Taylor

You have to change the ideas and understanding around dispute resolution. You have to integrate and appreciate the fact that parties do not want to "win", but rather, they want solutions - and they want "out" of expensive and uncertain process. You have to stop trying to "resolve" disputes through facts, laws and arguments and start identifying and supporting them in solving the underlying problem. You have to start honoring the role of human emotion as the driver of every dispute, as opposed to repressing and ignoring it. You have to stop paying arbitrators by the hour. There is room for ADR to be something different than court process. We are not there yet, but it is possible.

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Friday, May 09, 2025 3:38 PM | Kyle-Beth HIlfer

Such a grassroots movement would require a cultural shift that may be difficult in the current climate. In general, it would require our education system to include consideration of this issue, from the earliest stage, but certainly through high school and college. It would require critical thinking about conflict to shift away from a win/lose paradigm and place emphasis on more than transactional relationships. Furthermore, there needs to be considerable education among various bar associations and law schools to promote the use of early dispute resolution and promote that as a benefit to clients. These are big ideas that are not easy to implement and would take considerable time.

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- Friday, May 09, 2025 4:04 PM | Jeffrey Pardo (jjp@pardo-adr.com)
  
  Zero-sum, win-lose resolution is baked into our educational culture (sports; debate, etc.) I'd focus on law and business schools -- to add courses that add a second focus on "interests" in addition to "legal rights." The AAA should reach out to business entities and their general counsel to incorporate broad ADR provisions in all relationship contracts AND include the rationale for such provisions. Offer free seminars/webinars on the time/cost/relational benefits of ADR.
  
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- Friday, May 09, 2025 4:20 PM | Paul Mason - Miami and Rio de Janeiro
  
  Not so much for the general public but for lawyers who may have clients with disputes - after many years, Brazilian law schools finally began to offer mediation courses. If more US law schools did this and not just the standard curriculum with appellate cases etc., it could help re-orient the next generations of lawyers.
  
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Friday, May 09, 2025 4:46 PM | Stuart Riback

What do you mean by "the public?" If it's individuals we are talking about, bear in mind that there has been a very sustained effort for many years, through the press and otherwise, to persuade people that it is a violation of their rights to be "forced" into arbitration and deprived of their "day in court." Businesses are more readily persuaded that speed, potential cost savings and, often most crucially, privacy considerations can make arbitration an excellent alternative, particularly for cases where the parties are in ongoing relationships.

As for me, I am happy to go preach to people about how much sense arbitration can make, but it is something of an uphill climb for the general public.

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Friday, May 09, 2025 5:28 PM | Michael Orfield

Clearly we need to get to the public at the contract stage. Every contract should have an Arbitration clause. This starts as early as law school for the lawyers, and the trade schools for the litigants. But we should also be thinking of the public in general who could always agree to arbitrate their dispute once it occurs. Public education is a harder nut to crack. Newspapers, seminars, television, a significant public outreach program involving many individuals willing to speak to any group who will have them.

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Friday, May 09, 2025 5:30 PM | Paul Burkhart

With regard to arbitration, educate the public first and foremost. The average person doesn't know the difference between mediation and arbitration. Heck, half of the attorney's don't seem to know the difference.

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Friday, May 09, 2025 6:30 PM | Marilyn Klinger

This is what ChatGPT said:
Sparking a grassroots movement that encourages the public to choose dispute resolution first—such as mediation, arbitration, or restorative justice—requires cultural, educational, and institutional shifts. Here's how to initiate such a movement and why it matters:

How to Spark the Movement
Public Education and Awareness Campaigns

Demystify dispute resolution: Use plain language in multimedia campaigns (videos, podcasts, social media) to explain what mediation and arbitration are, how they work, and their benefits.

Share real-life success stories: Highlight ordinary people who resolved conflicts faster and more amicably outside the courtroom.

Engage schools and universities: Integrate conflict resolution training into curriculums to plant seeds early.

Leverage Trusted Community Leaders

Partner with religious leaders, neighborhood associations, labor unions, and cultural organizations to promote alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods.

Encourage these leaders to act as dispute resolution ambassadors.

Make ADR More Accessible

Create low-cost or free mediation services in community centers, libraries, and local nonprofits.

Offer mobile mediation teams in underserved areas or conflict hotspots.

Policy Advocacy

Lobby for "ADR-first" legislation that requires parties in certain disputes (e.g., landlord-tenant, family, or small claims) to attempt mediation before going to court.

Push for court-linked mediation programs that offer alternatives before full trials are set.

Train and Certify Local Mediators

Invest in community-based training programs to create a network of mediators from within the communities they serve.

Use Social Media and Influencers

Create viral content (e.g., TikToks, short videos) that dramatize how disputes can spiral in court but be calmly resolved with ADR.

Collaborate with legal professionals and public figures to legitimize and promote the cause.

Why This is Important
Reduces Overburdened Courts

The court system is clogged with cases that could be resolved more efficiently outside it. ADR offers a faster, less formal, and more cost-effective route.

Empowers Communities

ADR fosters dialogue, empathy, and understanding—especially in disputes rooted in ongoing relationships, such as neighbor, family, or community issues.

Promotes Justice That Heals

Court outcomes can be win-lose. ADR often results in win-win solutions and preserves relationships.

Reduces Costs and Emotional Strain

Legal battles can be financially and emotionally draining. ADR provides a lower-cost and less adversarial alternative.

Increases Access to Justice

Especially for marginalized or low-income communities, ADR can provide timely dispute resolution without the high barriers of formal litigation.

Closing Thought
A successful grassroots movement starts with reframing conflict not as a battle to be won in court, but as a problem to be solved collaboratively. The goal is to build a culture where asking “Can we mediate this?” becomes second nature—before filing a lawsuit.

Would you like a sample campaign plan or outreach strategy tailored for a specific region or audience?

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Friday, May 09, 2025 7:30 PM | Julia Sullivan

Confidence in the courts is at an historic low. According to Gallup, between 2020 and 2024, Americans' confidence in the U.S. judicial system and courts declined by 24 percentage points, one of the largest country-level drops for the courts measured globally since 2006. It feels like the perfect time to share information about the benefits of ADR not only within the legal community, but also with small business owners, consumers, etc.

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Saturday, May 10, 2025 11:41 AM | Anonymous

s a business owner, many of the legal processes that I'm forced to go through are antiquated and broken. The amount of time, energy and resources that are wasted is impactful. I would guess 80%+ of the problems could be resolved if there wasn't a broken legal system in between the parties, but instead, someone that could coach them through a conversation.

In the small claims courts of Suffolk County, where I mediate, the arbitrator forces the parties to speak with me before they're allowed to present their case. If ADR could become the norm as the first step, instead of filing a lawsuit that "casts a wide net" a tremendous amount of time and energy would be saved.

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Saturday, May 10, 2025 11:43 AM | Anonymous

I think this is an odd question that assumes that the average person should choose arbitration over the courts, which doesn't immediately seem to me to be a good idea.

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Saturday, May 10, 2025 5:19 PM | Jeremy Vermilyea

First, I agree with the comments that discuss this as a cultural issue. It goes well beyond the dispute resolution arena and gets to how we are taught from a very young age to resolve our differences. As such, this is a multi-generational issue and one that will not change overnight or even over a decade or more.

Second, I think there are situations where early dispute resolution is not possible, nor advisable. Sometimes people need to go through the litigation/arbitration process to be able to fully understand the risks and costs confronting them if they proceed all the way to trial or evidentiary hearing. There is such a thing as mediating a dispute too early.

So it is important not to lump all disputes together when asking these kinds of questions.

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