Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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Any business that is spending large sums of money litigating, arbitrating or mediating business-to-business disputes would be wise to consider investing a small amount of time and money up front to achieve “real time” resolution of those disputes through use of a standing neutral as an element in structuring contractual relationships.

The standing neutral process is one of several techniques developed in the construction industry to keep the peace on construction projects. It has achieved remarkable success in keeping disputes from disrupting continuing business operations. It practically guarantees that any disputes that develop between contracting parties will be resolved promptly and economically. It also has turned out to have the beneficial side effect of reducing—and frequently eliminating—disputes, as well as helping to maintain good relations between contracting parties.

This particular ADR process, although relatively unknown in the business world, should be ideally suited to controlling and preventing disputes in many other kinds of contracting relationships and corporate governance settings.