Alternative Dispute Resolution

Overview

As the number of cases filed each year has increased and court resources are stretched further and further, parties are turning to solutions outside the traditional judicial system as a faster, simpler solution to resolving a dispute. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is a series of processes that seek to solve disputes among individuals without resorting to complex, time consuming and expensive litigation. While various forms of non-judicial dispute resolution practices have existed for centuries, ADR has become drastically more popular in the United States and internationally over the last fifty years. Read the full overview

Note: Recently added resources are posted at the top of the applicable sections.

Major Statutes

Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §§ 1-16; 201-208; 301-307; 401-402
Compilation of States’ Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Statutes
The Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996
United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention of 1958)
Inter-American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration (Panama Convention of 1975)
Ch. 20, Institutional Arrangements and Dispute Settlement Procedures
Model Uniform Arbitration Act (drafted by the Uniform Law Commission, 2000)
Arbitration of Disputes Concerning Milk, 7 U.S.C. § 671 (Agricultural Adjustment Act)

Regulations and Procedures

American Arbitration Association Rules and Procedures
ACSA Arbitration Rules (American Cotton Shippers Association)
Code of Arbitration Procedure (2007)
International Chamber of Commerce Dispute Board Rules (2018)
International Dispute Resolution Procedures
International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution
NGFA Arbitration Rules (National Grain & Feed Ass’n)
NFGA Rail Arbitration Rules (National Grain & Feed Ass’n)
Permanent Court of Arbitration Resources

Center Research Publications

A Practitioner’s Guide to the Litigation of Federally Reinsured Crop Insurance Claims (Ballard, 2012)
States’ Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Statutes (Rumley, 2009)

Case Law

Case Law Index for Alternative Dispute Resolution

Agricultural Law Bibliography

Introduction   |   Keyword Search   |   Browse Categories

Legal publications on Alternative Dispute Resolution:

Administrative Law (Federal and State Farm Programs)
Agribusiness Corporations
Federal Loan Programs (Farmers Home Administration/Farm Service Agency)

Reference Resources

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Program (United States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service)
Alternatives to Litigation: Do They Have a Place in Federal District Courts (Federal Judicial Center OR Stienstra and Willging, 1995)
Coalition of Agricultural Mediation Programs (CAMP) (NM State Univ. Coll. of Agri., Consumer, and Envt’l Sciences, 2018)
Department of Justice: Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution
Developing Guidance for Binding Arbitration: A Handbook for Federal Agencies (2000)
Farm Service Agency: Agricultural Mediation Program (2018)
Farm Service Agency: Agricultural Mediation Training Slides (2005)
Federal Judicial Center
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Interagency Alternative Dispute Resolution Working Group
National Center for State Courts: Alternative Dispute Resolution State Resources

International Resources

European Commission Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumers
International Commercial Arbitration Resources, (U. of Chicago Law School, 2003)
International Chamber of Commerce: Commission on Arbitration
International Council for Commercial Arbitration
Permanent Court of Arbitration
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center
ADR Institute of Canada
Farm Debt Mediation Act of Canada (1997)
Farm Debt Mediation Act of 1994 (NSW) Australia: current act (2018)
Farm Debt Mediation Amendment Bill 2018
London Court of International Arbitration
National Association for Community Mediation

ADR Training Guides

ADR and Settlement in the Federal District Courts: A Sourcebook for Judges and Lawyers, (Federal Judicial Center OR Stienstra and Plapinger, 1996)
Alternative Dispute Resolution Practitioner’s Guide (1998)
Basic Mediation Training Trainer’s Manual, (Mediation@MIT, 2012)
Drafting Dispute Resolution Clauses: A Practical Guide, (American Arbitration Association, 1994)
Mediation and Conference Programs in the Federal Courts of Appeals: A Sourcebook for Judges and Lawyers, (Federal Judicial Center, 2006)

Publications

Alternative Dispute Resolution: Mediation, Arbitration, and Appraisal (Oster, 2022)
A Comparative Analysis of Multilateral Environmental Negotiations, Chasek (1997)
Enforcing Arbitration Awards: Everything You Need to Know (2020)
Environmental Mediation: Beyond the Limits Applying Dispute Resolution Principles to Intractable Environmental Conflicts (Burgess and Burgess, 1994)
Familiarize Yourself With Mediation, Arbitration, and a Hybrid Approach Using Alternative Dispute Resolution (Shonk, 2020)
Farmland Investments Are Finding their Way to International Arbitration, (Bernasconi-Osterwalder and Smaller, 2017)
Finding Common Ground: Mediating Agricultural and Other Rural Disputes (United States Department of Agriculture)
Mediating Land Use Cases (Forester, 1999)
MEDIATION: Getting Your Client and the Other Side to the Table (Barry, 1996)
Mediation Standards Checklist (The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 2000)
The NGFA Arbitration System at Work (Bernstein, 2007)
Resolution on Good Faith Requirements for Mediators and Mediation Advocates in Court-Mandated Mediation Programs (ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, 2004)
The U.S. Uniform Mediation Act and the Draft UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation (Diaz and Oretskin, 2002)
USDA Agricultural Mediation Program (Bailey, 2004)

Additional Resources

ADR and Settlement in Federal District Courts (1996)
Alternative Dispute Resolution: When Is It Beneficial? (Gaslowitz Frankel, LLC)
American Arbitration Association
Dispute Resolution Methods: Uses of Alternative Dispute Resolution (Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, 2022)
Environmental Mediation Center
A Guide to ADR Links (National Arbitration Center)
Litigation vs. Alternative Dispute Resolution (Schwartzapfel Lawyers, 2022)
Mediate.com – Everything Mediation
Mediation: An Ignored Option? (Matthews, 2018)
Trade Rules (National Grain & Feed Ass’n)
What is ADR? Defining the Alternative Dispute Resolution Spectrum (Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc)

Recommended Readings and Publications (not freely available electronically):

AAA Handbook on Mediation, Thomas E. Carbonneau and Jeannette A. Jaeggi (JurisNet 2010).

AAA Handbook on International Arbitration & ADR, Thomas E. Carbonneau and Jeannette A. Jaeggi (JurisNet 2010).

Mediation: A Comprehensive Guide to Resolving Conflicts Without Litigation, Jay Folberg and Alison Taylor (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1984).

ADR & the Law (JurisNet, 22nd ed. 2008).

Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Guide, Bette J. Roth et al., eds (Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co.).

Basic Skills for the New Arbitrator, Allan H. Goodman (Solomon Publications, 2004).

Conflict Resolution: Theory, Research, and Practice, James Schellenberg (State U. of NY Press, 1996).

Court-Annexed Mediation: Critical Perspectives on Selected State and Federal Programs, Edward J. Bergman and John C. Bickerman (Pike & Fischer, Inc., 1998).

Dispute Resolution, Stephen Goldberg, et al. (Little, Brown and Company, 2007).

Environmental Mediation (The Foothills Case) in Resolving Environmental Regulatory Disputes, Heidi Burgess (Schenkman Books, 1983).

Federal Arbitration Law: Agreements, Awards, and Remedies Under the Federal Arbitration Act, Ian R. Macneil, et al. (Little, Brown and Company, 1994).

International Arbitration in the 21st Century: Towards Judicialization and Uniformity? The Twelfth Sokol Colloquium, Richard B. Lillich and Charles Brower, eds. (Transnational Publishers, 1992).

International Commercial Arbitration, Gary B. Born (Kluwer Law & Taxation Publishers, 2009)

Mediation of Environmental Disputes: A Source Book, Scott Mernitz (Praeger Publishers, 1980).

Resolving Environmental Regulatory Disputes, Lawrence Susskind, et al. (Schenkman Books, 1983).

The Mediation Field Guide: Transcending Litigation and Resolving Conflicts in Your Business or Organization, Barbara Ashley Phillips (Jossey-Bass, 2001).

The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict, Christopher W. Moore (2nd ed., Jossey-Bass 2003).

The Mediator’s Handbook, Jennifer E. Beer & Eileen Stief (New Society Publishers, 2012).

The Negotiation Process: Theories and Applications, I. William Zartman (Sage Publications, 1978).

Mediator Communication Competencies: Problem Solving and Transformative Practices, William D. Kimsey, et al. (Pearson Custom Publishing, 2005).

The Politics of Environmental Mediation, Douglas J. Amy (Columbia University Press, 1987).

UNCITRAL Model Law of International Commercial Arbitration: A Documentary History, Igor I. Kavass and Arno Liivak (The Institute for International Legal Information, William S. Hein, 1985).

Treatise on the Law of Arbitration in Scotland: With and Appendix of Forms (Irons & Melville 1903)