legal sanity

In this piece, ABA President Robert J. Grey, Jr. suggests that lawyers seize the “opportunity to modernize, streamline and provide a more efficient process for resolving disputes” because such action “can only produce positive results for society and the profession.” To fulfill our role as “guardians of the American justice system,” he opines, lawyers need to recognize that a “trial is not always the best way to resolve a dispute” and should be able to discern “when mediation, negotiation and arbitration—or more innovative methods like summary jury trial—are the best use of resources to achieve a just solution.” This call to action raises the related issue of educating consumers (including lawyers and lay people) about alternative modes of dispute resolution. It’s an issue broadly addressed in this article on marketing mediation. In it, the author tries to dispel the notion that marketing and mediation are a noxious mix, asserting that “mediation practitioners have a professional obligation, an imperative, to popularize the more constructive, collaborative conflict resolution alternatives that are available to consumers in conflict.” Indeed, he asserts that to be of real service to our culture, mediators need to invest their resources into positioning mediation so that it’s at the top of consumers’ minds when they're faced with an actual or threatened conflict. He states: “Currently, in our culture, when people perceive they are in a conflict, many immediately want to sue their opposition vengefully and punitively.” Yet, “there are many choices, and blends of choices, that may stand to serve their net self interest far better than conventional adversarial litigation. If consumers can’t compare the aspects of several options, they can’t make choices that serve their self interest more advantageously.” I agree that the legal profession and lay consumers alike would greatly benefit from a marketing campaign touting the benefits of ADR. But it will likely be a pretty tough sell unless it includes a big educational component – such as CLE and public seminars that actively engage participants in exercises designed to convey the many benefits of these dispute resolution alternatives.