Weekly Discussion Question

Select a dispute that commonly arises in a business or commercial situation. Which ADR process would be best suited to resolve this dispute? Explain why. Which processes would not be suitable? Why not? Avoid selecting a dispute mentioned by other students.

I would have to say that one of the most common lawsuits would be breach of contract lawsuits. The company may be sued if the company did not fulfill the contractual obligations. If a company did not deliver the correct product or did not provide the correct service would be grounds for a breach of contract suit. Arbitration would be the best source of ADR for this type of lawsuit. With arbitration a third party decides if there was a contract and if that contract was broken or not. Many formal contracts contain some type of arbitration clause in which the two parties must submit to arbitration if there is ever a dispute. With arbitration there is the ability to give testimony and introduce evidence to support the case. This would be beneficial for submitting the copy of the contract or sales receipt to prove there was a contract and the accuser can also submit the ‘wrong product’ and ‘correct product’ to show that there was a difference in the products. Once the arbitrator submits his decision, it is final and both parties must abide by it if the parties agreed in advance to it. I think that mediation would be the least suitable in this type of situation. Because mediation does not provide a ‘you are right’ type of decision, it provides help to be able to come to a suitable resolution when a problem arises. Mediation would be good in a situation where there is no right or wrong decision to be made.