Alternative dispute resolution is where by instead of taking legal action against someone, the groups in conflict come to point of resolving the conflict. A third party that is neutral comes in and aids in resolving the conflict by listening to both sides and then find grounds in which conflicting parties can agree upon. Below are the benefits that accompany alternative dispute resolution as a means of solving conflicts.
There is quite a huge amount of money that is able to be saved by undertaking this method to solve a conflict. A court proceeding can take quite a long time for it to settle a dispute while alternative dispute resolution always aims at bringing the case to an end as early as possible. Alternative dispute resolutions can take weeks or even a number of months while a court proceeding may take years. In all these years, a person is always entitled to an attorney to represent him in the courts. This attorney is payed quite a large sum of money for the constant number of times he visits court proceedings. There are also expenses incurred in transport and other activities that happen so that a person may get to the courts at all hearings. In the long run, it becomes quite expensive.
The people involved in the conflict are always given the opportunity to express themselves. Contrary to court proceedings where the only person permitted to talk on behalf of a client is the lawyer. In an alternative dispute resolution setting, both the plaintiff and the person facing the charges can talk for themselves. Through this, they have the ability to directly influence the decisions being made and if one party is not satisfied, the people involved can move back to the drawing board and resolve every aspect. No person is misrepresented in this case.
Since both parties agree to the outcome, the positive relationship between that parties can still be maintained even after the conflict has been solved. If the relationship they had was useful and productive, then it could still continue. This is because of the mutual understanding that satisfies both parties. In a law court, the judges may give final judgement without looking at the vulnerability of one part. As long as the final judgement is just even if it may not be fair, it is final and both parties have to obey even if one party is hurt. The party that may be negatively affected by the judgement may be hostile and angry to the party favored by the judgement hence creating a rift between the two parties.
There is a great maintenance of confidentiality in the proceedings of conflict resolution meetings adopted by the alternative dispute resolution processes. The sittings done in alternative resolution processes are more discrete and are done with door closed. A court proceeding is quite open hence creating to much publicity that to a certain extent, is not necessary. The people who attend alternative dispute resolution processes are the ones that been invited alone. No other person is permitted.