Madu, Edozie & Madu, P.C.

One of the fastest-growing areas of litigation in recent years has been the area of alternative dispute resolution (commonly referred to as ADR). Indeed, in addition to a wide range of litigation services, Madu, Edozie and Madu is regularly called upon to resolve disputes through the use of various forms of ADR without resorting to traditional litigation.

Although still the mainstay for the resolution of many disputes, traditional litigation is not always necessary or appropriate to achieve the desired strategic objectives. In many instances, an equal or better result can be obtained through an ADR option and with the added bonus of substantial reduction of the time and money the client must spend.

Because of its greater flexibility, ADR can often alleviate some or all of the shortcomings of traditional litigation by structuring and utilizing a custom-made dispute resolution strategy. ADR can be applied to virtually every form of dispute and can be strategically designed to achieve a wide variety of goals, including streamlining and speeding up the dispute resolution process; substantially reducing litigation costs; limiting interruption to the client’s business activities; increasing a client’s awareness of issues and risk; protecting a client’s ongoing business relationships; achieving a better result by utilizing arbitrators with special skills and knowledge to decide complex technical issues; accommodating complex international laws; and preserving the confidentiality of a dispute.

Because Madu, Edozie and Madu is fully committed to meeting its clients’ needs for finding solutions best suited to their individual objectives, its attorneys are constantly scanning the legal landscape for new and better alternatives. This practice, coupled with Madu, Edozie and Madu’s already extensive experience in ADR, results in added value for clients.

The ADR arena continues to evolve and currently takes on a wide variety of shapes and forms, including mediation, conciliation, minitrials, summary jury trials, private trials, early expert investigation, neutral evaluation and, perhaps the most well-known ADR option, nonbinding and binding arbitration.

Even mainstream options such as arbitration and mediation can be tailored to fit the specific needs of the parties through the use of innovative techniques such as high-low formats designed to minimize the risks to the parties. The firm’s commercial litigation team has utilized ADR options in a variety of areas, including contract, securities law, corporate, fiduciary duty, construction, real estate, employment and insurance coverage issues. In fact, many of the firm’s attorneys have acted as arbitrators and mediators in many different ADR forums, presiding over cases dealing with the entire gambit of modern-day commercial issues and disputes. Madu, Edozie and Madu attorneys draw on this vast hands-on experience in recommending the settlement options and ADR procedures that are best suited to the specific goals unique to each case and client.

In addition to advising clients on ADR strategies, Madu, Edozie and Madu attorneys are able to draw on that same experience to recommend and choose those arbitrators and mediators best suited to the case. Nothing can have a more devastating effect on the ADR process than choosing the wrong ADR option or selecting an unqualified arbitrator or mediator.