Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

The explosive expansion of both private and court-mandated ADR programs is an encouraging phenomenon, says Dana Freyer. But, she adds, how these programs are implemented by various users is as important as the fact that they have become so widely accepted. Freyer’s focus is on law firms and how they incorporate ADR into the legal practice.

In the December 1990 issue of the Arbitration Journal,1 I discussed how and why certain law firms were integrating ADR into their practices despite many lawyers' resistance to ADR. I also suggested reasons why more lawyers should do so.2 Five years later, both the reasons I previously advanced and the subsequent expansion of the ADR landscape make the case for law firm integration of ADR even more compelling.