Dispute Processes: ADR and the Primary Forms of Decision-making

by Michael Palmer, Simon Roberts

This wide-ranging study considers the primary forms of decision-making – negotiation, mediation, umpiring, as well as the processes of avoidance and violence – in the context of rapidly changing discourses and practices of civil justice across a range of jurisdictions. Many contemporary discussions in this field–and associated projects of institutional design–are taking place under the broad but imprecise label of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The book brings together and analyses a wide range of materials dealing with dispute processes, and the current debates on and developments in civil justice. With the help of analysis of materials beyond those ordinarily found in the ADR literature, it provides a comprehensive and comparative perspective on modes of handling civil disputes. The new edition is thoroughly revised and is extended to include new chapters on avoidance and self-help, the ombuds, Online Dispute Resolution and pressures of institutionalisation.

432 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 9, 2020

About the author

Is the Canadian-born author of Dark Side of the Sun, The Leaf Cutter and The Corduroy Road, well-received and much-loved books that have garnered regional and national media attention across Canada. And he loves a good adventure - he was temporarily stranded on an iceberg once, was accidently branded an illegal alien (along with his wife and kids) in Panama and his family lived in the jungles of Central America for a year. In his other life, he's an avid history and music buff with serious addictions to chocolate and The Beatles. Michael currently resides in Calgary, Alberta, with his wife and three children.