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Just What is NDR?

By Robert Christopher Leave a comment

As you know, what we do at Just Resolve is promote and facilitate neutral-driven, non-adversarial ADR (“Alternative Dispute Resolution”) in legal disputes where legal and other related costs of litigation (and its popular alternatives) would otherwise consume the financial stakes over which the parties are fighting. Neutral-driven ADR is exactly what its name implies, and could also be described just as accurately as Non-adversarial ADR. Either characterization is a mouthful, however, that doesn’t trickle off the tongue, might be confused withRead More

What Mt. Kilimanjaro Taught Me About Business

By Robert Christopher Leave a comment

Picture this: ten friends slogging their way up Mt. Kilimanjaro – each one carefully copying the foot placements of the person in front of him. Now add in extreme weather, sleep deprivation and the lurking possibility of injury. About a month ago, that was my reality. The air was thin, but the penchant for adventure was dense as ever. As my friends and I struggled to make our way up, I couldn’t help but think of all the similarities between this trek andRead More

Proportionality in Dispute Resolution: Breathing Through Your Legal Downward Dog

By Robert Christopher Leave a comment

Some of us were not meant to be yogis. Downward Dog is more accurately Face-plant Dog for some people. Balance, right? Who knew it could be so difficult? Lately though, there’s been a great deal of chatter about finding balance. In fact, achieving balance appears to have surpassed many previously elevated goals such as making as much money as possible, maintaining triathlete level fitness standards, or even raising a first-chair-violin-and-home-run-hitting valedictorian. The renaissance of balance, of proportionality, means that weRead More

What’s in it for Them?

By Robert Christopher 1 Comment

SO YOU GET IT. You know what’s in it for you. You want neutral-driven dispute resolution in your business contracts. But to make this happen, the other side also has to agree. Since it’s less well known, and not yet standard in industry contract templates, you’ll probably need to propose Just Resolve for any disputes that arise, or at least for disputes up to some comfortable level of money stakes. When you do, and if your counterpart has not heardRead More

When Do Lawyers have a Duty to Step Aside?

By Robert Christopher Leave a comment

Recently, Anon Moose, LLC. and NOYB, Inc.* had a $23,000 contract dispute that early negotiations failed to settle. In an effort to bring about an amicable solution for both parties, Anon’s attorney suggested involving a mutually agreeable neutral, for a set fee, to initially mediate the dispute and, if necessary, resolve the conflict via binding decision. The attorney argued that no advocate-driven process – not court, arbitration or even mediation – could deliver any semblance of real economic justice toRead More

How to Keep Your Client When Litigation Isn’t the Answer

By Robert Christopher Leave a comment

Every litigation attorney encounters the circumstance at one time or another: a long-standing client approaches you with a stubborn, both-sides-believe-they’re-right matter for which the many costs of litigation, and probably even getting to mediation, will be unreasonable compared to the limited money at stake. How can you deliver real and economic justice to the client? How can you remain the trusted legal advisor of first resort for your client and not take the case? Do you take the case andRead More

Contract Disagreements, Failures, and Misunderstandings…What Are Your Resolution Options?

By Robert Christopher Leave a comment

You suffer the irate voicemail, the missing payment, faulty product, unmet deadline, or an escalated service issue. One thing is always true: it involves a financial and reputational risk to your business and an interruption of operations. The failure, perceived or real, of one or both parties to meet the terms of an agreement have led to consequences for your business. Now what do you do? The first step in a dispute is to know your options. Here is ourRead More

Contract Management Best Practices: What Are You Willing To Risk?

By Robert Christopher Leave a comment

Whether a business manages hundreds of contracts per year or only a few for key relationships, contracts are a fundamental component of risk management for every company. Contracts define business relationships and transactions.  Moreover, how a business mitigates contract and dispute risks profoundly affects its financial health and reputation as a business partner.

Recently Resolved: Where is My Penalty Payment?

By Robert Christopher Leave a comment

The Dispute Our latest Resolve involved a laboratory services contract that specified the payment of about $28,000 in penalties if the customer delayed the start date of the study. As is often the case, both sides believed they were in the right, actually had good reasons for believing it, and felt the other side was acting the scoundrel. The laboratory had reserved and purchased resources and materials specific to this study and so had lost the opportunity to do otherRead More

How California Court Budget Cuts Could Affect Your Business

By Robert Christopher Leave a comment

California is in the third year of cuts, and the state’s courts are taking a $660 million hit: $350 million in the latest budget cuts and another $310 million originally earmarked for court construction that is being diverted to the State’s General Fund. Complex litigation departments which handle business trials will be closed or cut back, and many cases will marinate as statutory time limits approach 1. Closed courts and delayed hearings mean a dispute could sit unresolved or evenRead More