Alternative Dispute Resolution ("ADR") refers to any method of resolving disputes without litigation.  ADR restructures all processes and techniques for dispute resolution that occur outside of any governmental authority.  The most famous ADR methods are: mediation, arbitration, conciliation, negotiation, and transaction.

  All ADR procedures have common features – that is, they enable parties to find acceptable solutions to their disputes outside of traditional legal/court proceedings, but are governed by different rules.  For example, unlike mediation and conciliation, where the objective of the third party is to promote an amicable agreement between the parties, there is no third party that intervenes to help the parties reach an agreement.  In arbitration, the third party (an arbitrator or multiple arbitrators) will play an important role as it will make an arbitral award that will be binding on the parties.  In comparison, in conciliation and mediation, the third party does not impose a binding decision.

  If all ADR procedures are different, they should not be compared and contrasted because in practice, parties combine the use of these different ADRs.  For example, the parties may stipulate in their contract that in the event of a dispute they will first submit an attempt at amicable settlement (conciliation/mediation) and only in case of failure will they resort to a judicial method of settlement, which may be arbitration or recourse to the state judicial system.  ADRs therefore come into play at different levels and have a complementary character.

  The main advantages of ADR are speed, confidentiality and flexibility.

  Public courts may be asked to review the validity of ADR procedures, but they will rarely overturn ADR decisions and awards if the disputing parties have made a valid agreement to abide by them.