Practice Area
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Whilst litigation cannot always be avoided, and remains a necessary recourse in many instances, businesses are increasingly looking at alternative and more cost-effective ways to resolve commercial disputes. This is where our Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) team can help your business.
Our ADR team has extensive experience advising clients in the areas of Adjudication, Arbitration, Bespoke Dispute Resolution Solutions, Expert Determination and Mediation.
When one of our clients is involved in a dispute of any nature, our ADR team’s first response is to consider the practical implications of each course of action and to consider how client costs can be kept to a minimum whilst ensuring that the best result possible is achieved in a timely and cost-effective manner.
The Mediation Act 2017 (“the Act”) brought about a significant change in the litigation landscape in Ireland.
It was enacted to encourage mediation as an alternative to court proceedings in resolving disputes. Under the Act, solicitors bringing legal proceedings on behalf of a client are obliged to swear an affidavit to the effect that they have advised their client of the benefits of mediation as an alternative method to resolve their dispute, as well as providing them with the contact details of mediation providers.
The Act discourages unnecessary litigation further by allowing the court to give regard to a party’s unreasonable refusal to engage in mediation when considering how to award the costs of the proceedings.
The Act (although not confined to commercial disputes) has served to put commercial ADR on a statutory footing by imposing obligations on legal practitioners to ensure that ADR is strongly considered prior to any dispute coming before the courts.
Our Services
Our ADR team represents commercial clients and private individuals in a broad range of disputes including:
- Shareholder disputes
- Contractual claims
- Landlord and Tenant disputes
- Partnership disputes
- Property disputes
- Planning disputes
Recent Experience
- Acted in the mediation of dispute in an Accountancy Practice
- Represented a pharmacy in the mediation of a complex commercial dispute
- Represented a private client in a mediation involving a complex land dispute
- Advised in complex construction disputes