We resolve commercial disputes through mediation. The Future of ADR A client-centered approach has been suggested, as well as a stress on client control of the outcome. Although many of the readers will likely be lawyers or people associated with the legal profession, it may be helpful to assess ADR from a nonlegal viewpoint. The growth of ADR concepts has to some extent mirrored the growth of the social sciences, and in particular, the growth of psychology.
Lawyers tend to deal primarily with only certain aspects of a legal dispute.
Psychologists, and many mediators and negotiators, point out that parties to disputes often have deeper motivations that relate to what they consider important in the dispute. Doctors, in spite of astronomical medical costs, still retain a high degree of public confidence, because they are perceived as healers. Given the state of legal delay and perhaps procedural complication, the client may wish to save time and get to a resolution more quickly. The client, being intelligent and articulate, wants to participate more personally in the resolution of his or her affairs. Clients whose own professional or business operations are orderly, rational, efficient, and reflective might prefer a method of dispute resolution that comes closest to operating in a highly rational, efficient way.