A recent survey of general counsel and senior lawyers at Fortune 1000 corporations has found that arbitration usage is in decline whilst mediation is holding steady.
The study, co-sponsored by Pepperdine's Straus Institute, Cornell University, and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR) reports that mediation appears to be as widely used as in 1997, when a similar survey of the Fortune 1,000 was undertaken. More companies claim they are experimenting with so-called “integrated conflict management systems” and many now report experience with “early case assessment”.
The most striking aspect of the new study is the apparent fall-off in the use of arbitration in every type of dispute: (60% in 2011 versus 85% in 1997).
It would appear that in the USA, mediation has become a normal adjunct of litigation - and usually settles or helps settle cases on the way to court. It is seen as a natural response to the cost, length, perceived risks and loss of control associated with litigation. Read more here.
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