Alternative Dispute Resolution

Companies across the board are faced with myriad risks inherent to both domestic and international business operations. When a dispute arises, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Team at Holland & Knight offers you efficient, cost-effective alternatives to traditional, complex litigation proceedings.

Protecting Your Interests

When you engage in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), your interests are protected on multiple levels, including: minimized publicity, reduced costs, decreased time delays, reduced or eliminated discovery and diminished injury to business relationships. We work carefully with each client to determine the best method for a resolution. Our attorneys are dedicated to efficiently guiding you through the various ADR processes, including:

• arbitration
• mediation
• settlement counsel
• partnering
• dispute review boards

Seeking Voluntary Resolutions Through Mediation

The most common form of ADR, mediation, provides disputing parties with a confidential forum in which to define the issues and attempt to find a voluntary resolution satisfactory to both sides. Whether you need a mediator to serve as a neutral party, or are seeking representation before mediators, our ADR team has extensive experience on each side of the mediation and conflict resolution process. Our comprehensive practice encompasses a wide variety of cases and controversies involving both court-ordered and privately-initiated mediations.

Protecting Your Interests with a Well Drafted Arbitration Clause

The ADR Team assists you with determining whether arbitration is the best method of dispute resolution for your contracts, transactions, or business dealings. If arbitration will most effectively protect your interests, we will draft a comprehensive dispute resolution clause in consultation with you that takes into consideration the appropriate neutral organization's rules for your situation, the selection of arbitrators, the locale of proceedings, choice of law, scope of discovery, the conduct of the proceedings, the type of award and the enforcement of the award.

Providing an Alternative to Litigation Through Arbitration

Whether you’re involved in a domestic or international dispute, Holland & Knight’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Team can serve your arbitration law needs as an advocate or a neutral party. We have broad arbitration experience in a wide variety of disputes, involving: aviation and marine matters, business transactions and torts, computer law, construction projects, commercial issues, e-commerce matters, employment controversies, insurance issues, personal injury cases and securities matters.

Offering Efficiency in Settlements

To assist you in reaching earlier, more cost-efficient settlements, Holland & Knight has developed and implemented a Settlement Counsel Program. Based on a “dual track” system, the firm provides you both settlement counsel to formulate and execute a settlement strategy, and trial lawyers to prepare your case for trial. The two teams work on parallel tracks with different objectives: settlement counsel seeks to negotiate an economically reasonable result while trial counsel have as their goal to win the case.

Easing Global Dispute Resolution

Our legal team is poised to serve your global dispute matters, from mediation and arbitration before national and international tribunals to litigation in U.S. or foreign courts. Our lawyers have extensive experience in the drafting of arbitration agreements. Our clients in international arbitration retain a role in the selection of the decision-makers for their dispute and select a neutral forum and reliable dispute resolution rules. Engaging in international arbitration, as opposed to litigation in local courts, avoids disputes over jurisdiction and the risk of lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions, simplifies service of process, and greatly reduces local prejudice. We pride ourselves in staying completely up-to-date with all facets of this rapidly developing area of the law and practice.

Offering a Team Approach

When you bring your dispute resolution matters to Holland & Knight, you gain access to lawyers from over 100 departments who have extensive experience both representing clients as advocates in ADR proceedings, and serving as neutral mediators or arbitrators in disputes between parties we do not represent. As advocates, our attorneys represent clients under multiple U.S. and international rules, as well as under rules drafted specifically by individual ADR contracts or systems. As neutral parties, we are represented on numerous state and Federal court panels, as well listed on various international rosters.