Resolving Civil Disputes

Understanding how to resolve conflicts between private parties is essential for Australian lawyers. Civil Dispute Resolution: Balancing Themes and Theory presents a comprehensive framework within which both civil procedure and alternative dispute resolution are addressed. This framework, based on balancing competing objectives of dispute resolution, simplifies and explains the many aspects of resolving disagreements between private parties. The book guides readers through every aspect of civil dispute resolution including the interaction between negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation as means to resolve civil disputes and the many stages of litigation, from the commencement of proceedings through to judgment and enforcement. The balancing themes are applied to demystify the resolution of civil disputes, including the role of specialist courts and tribunals, alternatives to court, pleadings, gathering documentary and witness evidence, legal costs, and trial preparation and attendance.

Efficient, effective and ethical resolution of disputes is central to civil society. However, resolution processes are subject to significant practical and policy issues. The revised and updated second edition of Resolving Civil Disputes identifies and explores these challenges. Structured to address the roles that litigation and various other forms of dispute resolution play in resolving civil disputes in the modern era, this book fosters an understanding of how to evaluate and select the most appropriate resolution technique for a civil dispute, through processes such as negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation. The book explains the distinctive and vital role of litigation, while questioning whether a broader view of justice may be taken and how the courts and alternative dispute resolution may interact. The mechanics of litigation and mediation are examined through insights into the key steps of each process. The utility of dispute resolution techniques to deliver access to justice is discussed with attention placed on those members of society who suffer economic or social disadvantage. The text explores key responses to a lack of access to justice such as legal aid, pro bono, class actions and litigation funding. The text also examines the impact of technology on lawyers, litigation and alternative dispute resolution and addresses the development and practice of transnational litigation. The clear and authoritative analysis has been contributed by leading experts from the judiciary, academia, legal and dispute resolution practice. This unique text provides invaluable guidance for practitioners, policy-makers, students, researchers and anyone interested in dispute resolution techniques. Features * Considers roles of litigation and other ADR methods as elements in the dispute resolution process * Discusses key practice and policy questions relevant to both practitioners and policy-makers * Wide-ranging topics include access to justice, class actions and litigation funding * Explores the impact of technology on legal practice * Authoritative and reliable content * Contributions from eminent thought leaders Related Titles * Boulle, Mediation and Conciliation in Australia: Principles Process Practice, 2023 * Field, Australian Dispute Resolution, 2022 * Lethbridge et al, Civil Litigation: Strategy and Practice, 2023

Privatization is occurring throughout the public justice system, including courts, tribunals, and state-sanctioned private dispute resolution regimes. Driven by a widespread ethos of efficiency-based civil justice reform, privatization claims to decrease costs, increase speed, and improve access to the tools of justice. But it may also lead to procedural unfairness, power imbalances, and the breakdown of our systems of democratic governance. Civil Justice, Privatization, and Democracy demonstrates the urgent need to publicize, politicize, debate, and ultimately temper these moves towards privatized justice. Written by Trevor C.W. Farrow, a former litigation lawyer and current Chair of the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice, Civil Justice, Privatization, and Democracy does more than just bear witness to the privatization initiatives that define how we think about and resolve almost all non-criminal disputes. It articulates the costs and benefits of these privatizing initiatives, particularly their potential negative impacts on the way we regulate ourselves in modern democracies, and it makes recommendations for future civil justice practice and reform.

"Recourse to dispute resolution processes such as mediation and arbitration is increasing as litigants look for more practical means of resolving their disputes. This authoritative and accessible work provides practical advice on how to select, prepare for and engage in a range of dispute resolution processes. Practical and portable, and including examples, forms, checklists and sample documents, this handbook is a reference source for anyone who is involved in a dispute resolution process."--Pub. desc.

This wide-ranging study considers the primary forms of decision-making - negotiation, mediation, and umpiring - in the context of rapidly changing discourses and practices of civil justice across many jurisdictions. Much contemporary discussion in this field, and associated projects of institutional design, are taking place under the wide ranging but imprecise label of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). If a common linking theme is sought, the authors argue that this must lie in a general shift of priorities as between judgement and settlement in ideological terms. This new edition brings together and analyses a wide range of materials dealing with dispute processes and the current debates on civil justice. With the help of a selection of texts beyond those ordinarily found in the emerging alternative dispute resolution literature it provides a broad, comparative perspective on modes of handling civil disputes, with the principal focus on the central processes of negotiation and mediation.