From personal injury litigation to disputes with health clubs, from contested divorces to major corporate litigation, these private for-profit groups, with names like “Arbitration Services” and “EnDispute,” sell ADR services as if they were a commodity. Not surprisingly, many of these for-profit ADR corporations are run by lawyers.
While it’s too early to say that turning alternative dispute resolution over to people whose main line is the bottom line will be fatal to the movement, warning flags are definitely flying. One reason for this is the alacrity with which the new ADR entrepreneurs are climbing into bed with large corporations which are frequently sued, such as insurance companies and
