... a contract might be (AAA, 2000). It is safe to say that dispute resolution is a good thing for business, since it allows business relationships to continue without the distraction of the dispute. So, why alternative dispute resolution? Historically, the standard mechanism to resolve business disputes was to go to litigation. While this guarantees a resolution - or at least, an end - to a dispute, it tends to be time-consuming and expensive. It can also leave both parties dissatisfied, even if the dispute is technically resolved according to the letter of the law. Hostile litigation can take so much time and use so many resources that neither side "wins" in a meaningful sense of the word. The prevailing disputant often enjoys only a Pyrrhic victory, since the cost of victory can be staggering (Corley, et al, 2001, p. 89). It is perhaps poetically just that the Pyrrhic War itself ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now