Despite Controversy, Employment ADR Still On the Rise; JAMS Survey Indicates Discrepancy Between Plaintiff Attorneys' and Employees' Acceptance of Arbitration.

Business Editors/Legal Writers

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 26, 2000

In a survey conducted at this year's 11th Annual Convention of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), 73 percent of respondents said they feel the general use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) will dramatically increase in employment disputes within the next year. JAMS, the resolution experts and a leading national provider of dispute resolution services, sponsored the survey. Respondents were predominantly plaintiff's counsel with more than 10 years in practice.

JAMS survey also revealed that only 42 percent of employment attorneys encourage the use of arbitration. This is particularly noteworthy when compared with Dispute Resolution Times' recent finding that 83 percent of employees favor the use of arbitration rather than the courts and the American Bar Association's recent finding that arbitration litigants were more satisfied than those involved in lawsuits.

"Across the country, attorneys and consumers alike are trying to sort through the fact and fiction surrounding the inclusion of arbitration clauses in employment contracts, and there remains a great deal of confusion," said JAMS Vice President and General Counsel Jay Welsh. "The bottom line is that ADR, whether arbitration, mediation or some hybrid, is a positive in the employment context and, though counsel may still be hesitant to embrace it, consumers are increasingly recognizing that this is true. In the vast majority of cases, it's more affordable, it's faster, and it allows the parties involved to dispose of the conflict and get back to more productive pursuits."

While there is much disagreement as to the acceptability of arbitration clauses in employment contracts, the JAMS' survey reveals that employment attorneys are rarely being bound to use arbitration, as 43 percent of respondents have not used arbitration in the past two years, and 42 percent have only used arbitration one to three times. Less than five percent of responding lawyers have used arbitration more than 10 times in the last 24 months. When the questions focused on mediation, 53 percent of responding employment attorneys report submitting more than six cases to mediation during the past two years.

In keeping with the results generated by JAMS, a joint initiative of Cornell University, The Foundation for the Prevention and Early Resolution of Conflict (PERC) and PricewaterhouseCoopers, concluded that ADR usage among 1,000 of the largest U.S. corporations is widespread and is likely to grow significantly in the foreseeable future. According to this survey, 84 percent said that they are "likely" or "very likely" to use mediation in the future, while 69 percent said the same about arbitration.

Founded in 1985, NELA has more than 3,400 member lawyers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as more than sixty state and local affiliates around the country.

JAMS, the resolution experts, offers its domestic and international clients an exclusive, prestigious panel of justices, judges and attorneys with proven track records for handling the most complex and high-stakes cases. With 20 nationwide offices, including major offices in business centers such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boston and Washington D.C., the company and its 200 full-time neutrals are responsible for resolving more than 10,000 disputes annually. JAMS can be reached at its Irvine, Calif. corporate headquarters at [phone].