Mediation and Conciliation

to distinguish to use these words, see this article

please see more reconcile and conciliate

Arbitration, Mediation and Conciliation:differences and similarities from an International and Italian business perspective

by Alessandra Sgubini, Mara Prieditis & Andrea Marighetto

August 2004

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Prof. Gregg Relyea, for his important contribution to this article.

Historically, methods used to settle disputes have ranged from negotiation, to courtroom litigation, and even to physical combat. The legal needs of countries, multinational companies, and ordinary people have changed over the last decade. When faced with a dispute, business people are learning that, whenever possible, it is more advantageous to reach practical and private agreements than to fight for years and spend huge amounts of money in courtroom battles. Due to the vast amounts of time and money involved in the trial process, the American and Italian business communities have increasingly turned to legal alternatives that are more prompt, private and economical than the courtroom. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) refers to the wide spectrum of legal avenues that use means other than trial to settle disputes.The main ADR alternatives to civil litigation are negotiation, arbitration, conciliation and mediation. Other, more particular ADR processes available are early neutral evaluation, mini-trial, summary jury trial, and the judicial settlement conference. Disputing parties use these ADR methods because they are expeditious, private, and generally much less expensive than a trial. While each of these ADR processes may be effective in various circumstances, mediation in the United States has proven to offer superior advantages for the resolution of disputes that resist resolution.