Escaping the Courthouse: Private Alternative Dispute Resolution in Los Angeles

Formal dispute resolution, long thought to be the province of the state, seems to have piqued the interest of the private sector in recent years as a possible sphere of activity. In settings where courts are clogged and criminal cases are forcing civil cases off the calendar, where public juries are perceived as "out of control," and where many individuals are disillusioned with incremental tort reform; a growing number of private individuals are selling their services as neutrals to facilitate dispute resolution. For-profit firms, both independent and national networks, are springing up and positioning themselves in major metropolitan areas. Nonprofit organizations, both new and well-established, are actively marketing an expanding array of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services to an increasingly diverse audience of potential consumers.