Law Commons^™

Regulation Of Dispute Resolution In The United States Of America: From The Formal To The Informal To The ‘Semi-Formal’, Carrie Menkel-Meadow

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The story of ADR in the US is one of ‘co-optation’ of what was to be a serious challenge to formalistic and legalistic approaches to legal and social problem solving and is now highly institutionalized by its more formal use in courts. At the same time, use of private forms of dispute resolution in mediation, arbitration and newly hybridised forms of dispute resolution among disputants who can choose (and afford) to leave the formal justice system (in both large commercial matters and private family matters) has resulted in claims of increased privatization of justice, with consequences for access to …