Just Resolve™
Bridges The Gap In Civil Justice
Our 3-step resolve process
Just Resolve’s method is a simple and practical neutral-driven non-adversarial dispute resolution (NDR) process that is far better than litigation and its traditional alternatives for resolving limited-stakes disputes which defy negotiated settlement, mostly because it is fast, affordable and reliably fair. Below is the Just Resolve Process.
1. Select
- Parties identify their dispute, goals, and other key info, and agree to use Just Resolve and abide by its rules.
- Just Resolve locates, vets, and recommends neutral Arbiters based on required expertise.
- Parties choose a neutral Arbiter (or team) from recommendations (each party may veto one).
- Each party pays a fixed fee based on the effort required and is limited to <25% of the disputed amount (the stakes).
2. Investigate
- Arbiter(s) investigate the facts and law, including witness interviews, documents review, inspections, research and any expert analyses.
- Parties must fully and promptly cooperate with investigation and encourage third parties to cooperate, or risk adverse inferences.
- Parties may suggest information the Arbiter should pursue.
3. Resolve
- Arbiter issues a tentative decision and invites comment.
- Parties may question decision or request additional investigation.
- Arbiter pursues additional investigation or revises tentative if needed, and issues final decision.
- A party may immediately opt to appeal an adverse decision to an expanded panel of arbiters upon payment of an additional fee covering all costs of appeal (appeal option detailed below).
- Both parties comply with the final decision, which maybe enforced in court if necessary.
- A non-complying party may be ordered to pay the entire Resolve fee and any attorneys fees incurred to enforce the decision.
Optional Steps
Optionally, parties may agree at the outset of a resolve whether to allow the Arbiter also to mediate the dispute at any time before the tentative decision is issued, or to disallow the appeal option:
Mediate
- Arbiter is the mediator
- With help of Arbiter, parties discuss mutual resolution
- Arbiter prepares or oversees settlement documentation
Appeal
- Two additional Arbiters are chosen and appealing party pays fee for additional Arbiters
- All Arbiters review decision and may pursue any additional investigation that was requested and refused earlier
- A majority of Arbiters may change the final decision
Why We’re Different
Our primary service is to neutrally administer the resolution of disputes using our “resolve” process. The main difference between our process and others is that ours is proactively directed and controlled by the ultimate decision-maker(s) – whom we call Arbiter(s) – rather than by opposing teams of attorneys. Parties may, but need not, retain and use attorneys to advise them, or to act as their liaisons during a resolve, but our neutral-driven method strictly controls all forms of attorney advocacy.
This results in all investigation and analysis focusing on efficient pursuit of the truth of a matter, rather than on party advantage or burden. This, in turn, enables extraordinary savings and other mutual advantages in disputes that otherwise would quickly become more expensive and distracting than they are worth. To use our neutral-driven dispute resolution method, parties must agree to it by contract, either before or when a dispute has arisen. Therefore, we also offer related consulting, contract language* and other services designed to help parties to agree to use our method or to help them reduce the potential for disputes and the time disputes consume.
If you have an active dispute that needs to be resolved, submit your contact information and an optional brief description of your situation here, and we will contact you.
Outreach
As a neutral third party, Just Resolve pro-actively reaches out to both parties in a looming dispute and asks them to accept the Just Resolve neutral-driven dispute resolution (NDR) method for resolving a disagreement that otherwise may escalate into litigation. This outreach is ideal for situations when there is no pre-dispute agreement to use Just Resolve.
The outreach consists of:
- An interview with the first party to learn the basic situation from that party’s perspective
- An estimate of the total cost of Just Resolve’s process if used to resolve this dispute
- A detailed letter to the second party outlining Just Resolve’s method, its benefits to both parties, and the first party’s willingness to use Just Resolve or to pursue legal action if necessary
- Follow-up with both parties until either they agree to an active resolve or one party declines
- Payment by the first party of a low fixed fee (typically about $1450) for this initial outreach and follow-up, which is credited fully towards its share of the subsequent resolve fees
Contract Clauses
The best way to deter threats of litigation and minimize the costs, duration and distractions of resolving any dispute is to put a dispute resolution clause specifying Just Resolve in all of your contracts, BEFORE there is a problem. Clauses can be inserted into common business contracts with Customers, Vendors, Partners, Agents, Consultants and others. The clauses lay out a binding agreement by both parties to use the Just Resolve method to settle any disagreements arising out of the agreement. Alternatively, in those contracts where disagreements could involve truly high stakes or complexities justifying the time and costs of all the tools and rights of attorney advocacy, the parties can specify Just Resolve for common disputes up to some agreed dollar value, and then specify another forum and process like court or arbitration for larger disputes.
Below is a sample contract term for resolution of disputes using Just Resolve’s method:
DISPUTE RESOLUTION. The parties agree to submit any dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement to Just Resolve LLC, or its successor, for binding non-adversarial resolution according to its then-current rules, in __________________ [city or county, and state]. Either party may commence such a resolution by written request delivered to Just Resolve and to the other party stating the subject of the dispute and the relief requested.*
*Disclaimer: Just Resolve does not give legal advice. Applicable law and public policy may vary by state or subject matter. Therefore, obtain independent business attorney review before using or adapting any Just Resolve template clause.
No membership or subscription is required to specify us in a contract, and our method prevents any favored treatment of members by Arbiters in resolves. However, we do offer Personal, Business and Enterprise Members enjoy access to a selection of many more clause templates, corresponding to a wide variety of situations and available options, including language covering expedited mediation, forum selection based on dispute type or size, the number of arbiters, appeal, and advisory resolves. These are available from the Members’ Resources page after logging in.
Additional Services
Neutral Consultation (First One Is Free)
This one-hour consultation invites you to share the particulars of your business, the kinds of disagreements that commonly arise, or a specific situation you face, in order to answer your questions on if, how and where our services and approach will best work for you and your business or contract partners. We keep in mind your bottom line and reputation and may recommend related “better business practice” steps for you to consider that minimize the risks of disputes arising, and decrease time, distraction, and costs if they do arise. These consultations cost $300 per hour after the FIRST FREE HOUR, and one is included FREE with every Business or Enterprise Membership.
Arbiter Reservation
If the time from claim to resolution is critical, Just Resolve’s Arbiter Reservation service can save weeks by finding and vetting, in advance, at least three legal and/or industry experts who meet our criteria and commit to be available on-call. If requested, we will facilitate their introduction to the parties for pre-dispute approval as Arbiters. Arbiters are not actually engaged unless a dispute arises, but pre-dispute research into their qualifications, subject matter competency, potential conflicts, willingness to be available if needed, and approval by the parties will greatly decrease time to resolution in the event of a dispute. This service is provided on an As Quoted basis with a $1,800 minimum.
Outsourced Neutral Investigation
In appropriate situations, litigating parties and their lawyers can agree to outsource all or a specific part of the discovery phase of a case to a Just Resolve neutral Arbiter or Arbiter team. This eliminates the duplication of investigation and research effort by opposing legal teams and saves everyone time and money. This service is provided on an As Quoted basis.
Early Neutral Evaluation (or Advisory Opinion Only)
If parties or their counsel wish only a non binding neutral investigation, evaluation or Advisory Opinion, Just Resolve will shorten its process to terminate after the Arbiter issues the tentative decision. This service is provided on an As Quoted basis.
Mediator Screening
If parties or their counsel wish fast, untainted help in finding or screening a mediator (or other neutral), Just Resolve will provide this service on an As Quoted basis.
Neutral Audit
Just Resolve will work with your business through its designated officer or attorney to review business relationships and common disputes and make recommendations on where and how it may make sense to integrate the Just Resolve approach. A customized Neutral Audit will lead to big savings in time and costs when covered disputes arise. This service is provided on an As Quoted basis with a $1,800 minimum.
Contract Registration
By using the Contract Registration service, Just Resolve will maintain an organized registry of your contract(s) which specify Just Resolve for resolving disputes that may arise. We will review them and take steps to assure that our panel of arbiters includes neutrals and other experts with background in the kinds of disagreements that may arise in your business, saving you time and money. The fee per contract registration is $50, with the first 5 or 25, respectively, included free in every Business or Enterprise Membership.
Contract CHECK-IN
Let us help you head off disputes before they boil over to threaten deal profitability and valued relationships. Just Resolve will register the contract, check-in with each party’s designee during the contract’s term, and promote timely dialogue about any potential misunderstandings. This helps you rest assured that your contract partner (customer, vendor, partner, consultant, etc.) is on the same page as you throughout the contract period. The fee is $200 per contract check-in.
