The Commercial Arbitration & Mediation Practice Group is comprised of two related but very different practice areas.
The first such area involves client representation in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) matters. There are a variety of ADR procedures (e.g., arbitration, mediation, early neutral evaluation, etc), but the commonality is that they are alternatives to traditional court litigation. ADR, if done correctly, offers a very attractive alternative to litigation. It should be speedier and less expensive. We emphasize “should be” because there are times when attorneys or clients believe it is the same as court litigation, which it emphatically is not. It can be confidential, and the arbitrator/mediator can be expert in the industry and issues at hand. Clients and their attorneys have a role in choosing the arbitrator/mediator, which is not true of court litigation. This Practice Group consists of select litigators who have handled a wide range of commercial arbitrations and mediations in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and even nationwide. Such attorneys have extensive experience in health care, construction, insurance, employment, environmental, energy, and other complex commercial disputes. Our attorneys in this Practice Group have a history of assisting our clients to achieve positive outcomes more quickly and less expensively using processes that protect their rights and their confidential or sensitive matters.
The second practice area of this Group involves conducting arbitrations and mediations as arbitrator and mediator. The attorneys in this area are seasoned litigators with extensive commercial arbitration and mediation experience, some of whom are qualified members of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) National Commercial Arbitration Roster and the AAA National Healthcare Roster, as well as the American Health Lawyers Association Dispute Resolver Panel. As arbitrators and mediators, the attorneys are very cognizant of their duties of confidentiality, fairness (with full disclosures of all pertinent relationships), speedy conclusion, and reduced costs. The practicing attorneys, who are arbitrators and mediators, have the requisite personalities combined with the legal expertise to resolve disputes in a respectful but firm way that the parties are assured is fair and unbiased.
