Dispute Resolution

Advising and Representing Clients in Dispute Resolution Settings

Durham Jones & Pinegar attorneys have vast experience in advising and representing clients in dispute resolution settings. Regardless of the dispute setting, our attorneys can help protect and advance our clients' interests.

Mediation Services

Litigation can be expensive, time consuming, and unsatisfying. In many cases, mediation is a viable alternative. Mediation can help resolve disputes more quickly, reduce costs, increase client awareness of issues and risks, preserve ongoing business and personal relationships, accommodate divergent foreign laws and cultures in international transactions, and minimize public disclosure. Mediation is not limited to the litigation context. It can be utilized by clients and attorneys in mergers and acquisitions and other business transactions, real estate transactions, bankruptcy proceedings, tax and probate matters, and family law disputes.

DJP's certified mediators can help manage and resolve disputes, incorporate mediation into businesses, and educate and train client representatives and attorneys to more effectively advocate their positions in mediation. Our attorneys who are certified mediators include Steve Gordon, Rick Guerisoli, and Terry Wade. Their collective expertise covers many areas of practice.

Dispute Resolution Training

DJP's dispute resolution services are not limited to mediation. In strategic alliance with ADR Group International, LLC (ADRGI), DJP attorneys offer a wide range of training services and can work with any organization to develop customized training programs to meet the organization's unique requirements and needs. Much of our training can be designed in a "train-the-trainer" format so that the company receives added value by having its employees trained to conduct either initial or future training. All of our training offerings can be designed as either one-time programs or as a continuous series of programs.

Some benefits of our training programs include educating participants, improving conflict resolution skills, improving technical skills, improving morale, improving communication skills, reducing fees and expenses, increasing creativity, increasing organizational and planning skills, and improving relationships.

Our instructors are experienced lawyers, professors, consultants, and trainers who have provided training nationally to corporations, government agencies, law firms, professional associations, courts, and others. We provide training in topics such as alternative dispute resolution, mediation, mediation advocacy, conflict management; communication skills, negotiation skills, team building, leadership, creativity, problem solving, strategic thinking, and valuing diversity.

We believe that individuals learn best when provided a safe training environment, appropriate information, time for incubation of new ideas, and interaction to practice skills. We strongly believe that learning can, and should be, enjoyable.

Different individuals learn differently. Our programs are designed to successfully engage visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. We believe that individuals learn from experience, and our training programs provide participants with opportunities to digest new skills and apply those skills to relevant situations.

Our training programs enhance motivation, facilitate discussion, and foster a collaborative approach to solving problems and utilizing skills. Interactive learning is a hallmark of our training sessions and can take the form of group discussions, small group exercises, individual skills practice, and customized role plays. A team approach is used to analyze selected exercises/role plays and to illustrate key concepts. Important concepts are often highlighted with multimedia presentations. A participant's manual, with an outline of the presentation and room for personal notes, accompanies most of the training programs. Included in the manual are suggestions for continued practice and learning, as well as an extensive bibliography.

Employment Dispute Resolution Program Design

DJP and ADRGI works with organizations, their legal departments, and their law firms to design and implement dispute resolution programs to prevent, manage, and resolve conflict and litigation on both a case-by-case basis and on an enterprise-wide basis. Multi-mechanism dispute resolution programs, which are particularly effective in dealing with employment disputes, provide a high level of employee and company satisfaction. We offer innovative consulting services to provide an organization with the tools it needs to create and maintain an effective employee dispute management strategy through the implementation of a tailor-made employment dispute resolution program. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is constantly examining the employee dispute handling mechanisms utilized by companies. Those companies with a positive philosophy and reputation for fair complaint management hold a competitive edge in the global marketplace. The organizations that will emerge at the forefront will take a more proactive and positive stance with regard to their employment complaints and disputes through the implementation of a program that incorporates multi-step complaint handling mechanisms. Examples of ADR mechanisms in the employment context include hotlines, negotiation, facilitation, conciliation, ombuds, mediation, neutral expert fact-finding, and arbitration.

The benefits of an employment dispute resolution program include reducing costs, reducing the time necessary to resolve disputes, preserving relationships, improving personnel performance thereby increasing productivity, increasing employee and company satisfaction, improving public relations and enhancing company reputation, and enabling businesses to cooperate with regulatory agencies.

DJP and ADRGI provide a variety of services related to employment dispute prevention and resolution, including assisting in the design and implementation of effective programs.

Our design and implementation services include:

(1) Conducting a detailed review of the existing dispute resolution processes and the organizational goals, and providing a recommendation for an employment dispute resolution program that meets those goals, including program implementation methodology for the organization.

(2) Preparing the documentation, such as the program description, policies and procedures, recordkeeping systems, and communications material necessary to implement an employment dispute resolution program.

(3) Developing training programs and training materials and conducting the training of the organization's program administrators and other key employees, such as management, legal, human resources personnel, and others necessary to effectively maintain, utilize, and administer an employment dispute resolution program.

(4) Developing and implementing a program administration protocol, including identifying the processes and information necessary to track the employment dispute resolution program for pre-program comparative analysis and other purposes.

Consumer Dispute Resolution Program Design

Multi-mechanism dispute resolution programs are particularly effective in dealing with consumer complaints and disputes, and provide a high level of customer and company satisfaction. DJP and ADRGI offer innovative consulting services to help entities create and maintain an effective consumer complaint management strategy through the implementation of a tailor-made consumer dispute resolution program.

Examples of ADR mechanisms in the consumer context include hotlines, negotiation, facilitation, conciliation, ombuds, mediation, neutral expert fact-finding, and arbitration. The benefits of a consumer dispute resolution program include reducing costs, reducing the time necessary to resolve disputes, preserving relationships thereby increasing customer loyalty, improving personnel performance thereby increasing productivity, increasing customer confidence and satisfaction, improving public relations and enhancing company reputation, increasing sales, improving products, and enabling businesses to cooperate with regulatory agencies.

DJP and ADRGI provide a variety of services related to consumer dispute prevention and resolution, including assisting in the design and implementation of effective programs. Our design and implementation services include:

(1) Conducting a detailed review of the existing dispute resolution processes and the organizational goals and providing a recommendation for a consumer dispute resolution program that meets those goals, including program implementation methodology for the organization.

(2) Preparing the documentation, such as the program description, policies and procedures, recordkeeping systems, and communications material, necessary to implement a consumer dispute resolution program.

(3) Developing training programs and training materials and conducting the training of the organization's program administrators and other key employees, such as management, sales, service, and public relations personnel, and others necessary to effectively maintain, utilize, and administer a consumer dispute resolution program.

(4) Developing and implementing a program administration protocol, including identifying the processes and information necessary to track the consumer dispute resolution program for pre-program comparative analysis and other purpose.

For information regarding our dispute resolution capabilities, contact Steve K. Gordon, head of our Dispute Resolution Practice Group, at (801) 415-3000 or sgordon@djplaw.com.