ADR - Center for Dispute Resolution

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a proven strategy that allows parties greater control of costs and outcomes, while avoiding many of the risks, delays and costs of trials and litigation. Lower costs, reduced court backlog and controlled schedules reduce professional and personal disruption, and mitigate adversarial environments.

The Baker Donelson Center for Dispute Resolution (CDR) is a select group of approximately 20 Baker Donelson attorneys who are dedicated to resolving complex issues with creativity and efficiency. Center members have experience in a variety of ADR techniques, including mediation, conciliation, mini-trials, neutral investigations, neutral evaluations, non-binding and binding arbitration and ADR audits. They are recognized as among the top in their field, ranking Baker Donelson second in the nation for number of attorneys listed in the area of Alternative Dispute Resolution by the Best Lawyers in America® 2010 and 2011.

Distinct Qualifications 

Members of the Baker Donelson CDR are certified mediators in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. They include, among others:

• Members of the ADR Panels for the U.S. District Courts for the Western and Middle Districts of Tennessee.
• A certified mediator for the Nashville Conflict Resolution Center.
• A former Circuit Court Judge for the largest Circuit Court district in Mississippi. 
• A former federal judge who is an appointee to the American Arbitration Association's National Roster of Neutrals. 
• A member of the EEOC Pro Bono Mediation Panel.
• A member of the American Arbitration Association's National Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators.
• A former Tennessee Circuit Court Judge who has mediated and arbitrated more than 200 disputes across five states.
• A member of the NASD Board of Arbitrators.

Role of the Neutrals

Parties jointly choose the neutral who will assist them in resolving their disputes, rather than leave resolution to an unpredictable judicial process. ADR enables specially trained and industry-aware Baker Donelson neutrals to analyze and evaluate often intricate, technical and sensitive legal issues in a confidential setting, avoiding the input of "outsiders" in reaching resolution.

Representative Matters

Members of the Baker Donelson CDR have helped disputing parties resolve conflicts in a wide array of cases involving labor and employment situations, construction matters, business and commercial issues, bankruptcies, creditors' rights, personal injury and property damage issues, tort cases, product liability claims, securities matters and contracts. Selected examples of their work as neutrals include:

• Conducted an investigation and served as mediator of an international dispute arising out of the Sierra Leone civil uprising for a London-based non-government organization (NGO).
• Elected President-Elect of the Tennessee Association of Professional Mediators. This group includes mediators throughout the state of Tennessee and provides various services for its members, including a website, promotion of the mediation process, and seminars.
• Served as mediator in a dispute involving claims of discriminatory treatment and whistle blowing between a company with international business interests and a senior executive assigned to an overseas post.
• Mediated securities disputes between customers and their broker-dealers involving allegations of unsuitable trade recommendations, churning, unauthorized trading, failure to supervise and failure to follow customer instructions.
• Served as mediator in a dispute involving a claim by a lender for approximately $3.2 million and allegations by the borrower that the lender was engaged in various wrongdoings related to the loan. The debtor, in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, had extensive real estate holdings secured by a loan held by the claimant.
• Served as mediator in a fraud litigation matter involving a group of employers, with self-funded health benefit plans, in disagreement with a group member regarding the subject of excess loss re-insurance.
• Served as mediator in a product liability suit alleging fire-induced burns and facial and body scarring caused by a clothes iron.
• Served as mediator in a nuisance suit brought as a class action by members of a community which asserted that the homes in the community had been seriously damaged by the fumes from a nearby battery manufacturing process plant.
• Served as mediator in a case involving the rape of a retail establishment employee in a mall after hours while she was closing the store. Plaintiff alleged inadequate security at the mall.
• Served as arbitrator for numerous construction matters, including one that involved a major municipal center in which there were 55 parties with separate claims.
• Served as mediator or arbitrator in various automobile accident cases, some heavily contested, involving injuries and death.