Dispute Resolution Counsel: So What is this Different Kind of Legal Advocacy?
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One reason we changed the name of our firm recently to Dispute Resolution Counsel was to highlight the role that lawyers play in representing their clients in an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes. The role, approach and technique of a lawyer in these situations are different from that of a litigator. The focus and the goal of the process are different and the process itself is different from litigation and trial. In a world of specialization and niches, this different process and different role calls for a different kind of lawyer. Not only is the training for this role different but the whole feel and intuitive skills are different. Some of this can be learned and obtained through training and practice. But part of this is just inherent intuition and it cannot be taught. That part is the realm of insights, innate ability and presence.
The word “different” appeared in the last paragraph seven times, naturally, but also to stress a point. This ADR area of law calls for a different skill set. To just plug any litigator or other kind of lawyer into this role would be doing the client a great disservice. You wouldn’t use a transactional lawyer to try a case just as you wouldn’t use a clinical research doctor to do surgery. And surgeons do not usually serve as primary care physicians because (a) they probably have no interest in doing so and (b) they do not have that skill set.
ADR processes, unlike litigation and arbitration, are not adversarial processes. They are not zero sum game, win-lose situations. The degree of victory is not determined by the other side’s degree of loss. Any kind of “hide the ball” strategy when it comes to information exchanges, or the practice of continually hammering away at the other side’s flaws and weaknesses are counter-productive. The focus of ADR is on the present and the future outcome, not the past and the laying of blame. These are processes that work to find shared interests and work toward connection, instead of harping on differences and driving people apart.
Read original articleTags: ADR, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Dispute Resolution, Resolution Counsel
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