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Experiences Of Collaborative Law: Preliminary Results From The Collaborative Lawyering Research Project, Julie Macfarlane

Journal of Dispute Resolution

For more than two decades, some of the most respected scholars in the field of dispute resolution have questioned the apparently intrinsic bias of litigation against cooperative, problem-solving outcomes for clients. The continuing discussion focuses on the increasingly adversarial and "uncivil" character of much civil litigation, especially commercial litigation;' the abuse of discovery practices to extend and escalate conflict and costs; the pressure to compete rather than to cooperate when facing the uncertainty of the other side's next move (the classic prisoner's dilemma described by Mnookin and Gilson); an observed tendency towards a reduction of counseling and "deliberative wisdom" provided …