Global Arbitration Mediation Association, Inc.'s (GAMA), Arbitration and Mediation E-Directories of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) professionals are designed to help disputants find mediators and arbitrators appropriate for resolving their conflicts by permitting searches of the database by years of ADR experience, education, credentials, subject matter expertise, associations, geographic location, video conferencing compatibility and hourly rate.
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HISTORY OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Mediation and Arbitration are traditional methods of dispute resolution for deciding controversies between individuals, businesses and countries. The parties may agree to their utilization after a controversy has arisen or may require it for future conflicts by including a mandatory mediation and/or arbitration clause in their contract. In mediation, a neutral third party meets with the disputants, both as a group and on an individual basis, then makes non-binding suggestions as to how to resolve their controversy. If the parties cannot resolve their dispute by mediation, they will often submit it to binding arbitration by a neutral arbitrator. This arbitrator is either selected directly by the parties or is designated by an arbitration agency. The arbitrator acts as both the judge and the jury in hearing the dispute and issues a decision called an award. The award is final and binding upon the parties. Historically, arbitration and mediation have been used to settle many different types of disputes. These disputes have typically fallen into one of the following categories - international disputes, commercial disputes, and labor disputes. A recent example of the successful employment of an international mediation is that conducted by former President Jimmy Carter in Bosnia. Additionally, there are numerous examples of the historic resolution of international conflicts by arbitration, such as its use by warring Greek city states and by various Catholic Popes who acted as arbitrators of conflicts between European countries during the Renaissance.
International attempts to provide a foundation for lasting, global peace have also incorporated arbitration. Two examples of this are the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which resulted from international meetings conducted between 1899 and 1907 in Hague, Netherlands and the development of the League of Nations in 1918 which employed arbitration as one mechanism of dispute resolution.
Outside the political arena, arbitration and mediation have been used by businesses world wide to settle their commercial disputes. In Europe, businesses of differing national origin have frequently submitted their controversies to arbitration. Here in the United States, arbitration and mediation are often used to settle labor disputes arising from conflicting interpretations of existing employment contracts, construction disputes between general contractors and subcontractors relating to construction damage claims, or between contractors and owners relating to the interpretation of work and payment clauses in construction contracts, and shareholder disputes concerning the valuation of stock in closely held corporations, to name but a few examples. The submission of a commercial dispute to mediation and/or arbitration may be done voluntarily or at the prompting of a governmental agency.
The federal government has promoted commercial arbitration since as early as 1887, when it passed the Interstate Commerce Act. The Act set up a mechanism for the voluntary submission of labor disputes to arbitration by the Railroads and their employees. Then, in 1925, Congress passed the Federal Arbitration Act which governs the arbitration of contractual disputes involving commerce. More recently, the federal judiciary has found employment disputes, civil rights violations, securities fraud, RICO and anti-trust claims to present arbitrable issues.
While for the most part, the decision of whether or not to engage in commercial mediation and/or arbitration is a matter of contract and has been historically decided by the parties, there have been several occasions in which a government has intervened to require mediation and/or arbitration of a commercial dispute when it felt that the dispute threatened national interests.
For example, in 1926 the United States government enacted the Railway Labor Act to monitor the labor-management relations of both the railways and the airlines. Under the Act, the National Mediation Board may intervene in a dispute and require mediation. If the dispute is not resolved by mediation, the Board will ask, but cannot require, that the parties submit to binding arbitration.
There is also historical precedent for governments requiring the submission of commercial disputes to compulsory, binding arbitration when they felt their national interests so required. This has been done by several countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Norway. The United States required mandatory arbitration of a railway labor-management dispute in 1963 after a lengthy strike by railroad workers.
In the near future, the Internet shall become the commercial backbone of the world economy. As it increases in importance to the national and international economy, its smooth, trouble free operation will be seen as essential to commercial, and hence, national interests and there will be a correlating desire on the part of the countries to provide increasing regulation of this last frontier. In order to minimize this governmental intrusion and the resulting restraint of trade inherent in all government regulation, Internet users can follow the historic lead of the railroad and airline industries and submit their controversies to arbitration and mediation - the dispute resolution mediums that do not add to existing legal precedent.
Mediation and Arbitration are traditional methods of dispute resolution for deciding controversies between individuals, businesses and countries. The parties may agree to their utilization after a controversy has arisen or may require it for future conflicts by including a mandatory mediation and/or arbitration clause in their contract. In mediation, a neutral third party meets with the disputants, both as a group and on an individual basis, then makes non-binding suggestions as to how to resolve their controversy. If the parties cannot resolve their dispute by mediation, they will often submit it to binding arbitration by a neutral arbitrator. This arbitrator is either selected directly by the parties or is designated by an arbitration agency. The arbitrator acts as both the judge and the jury in hearing the dispute and issues a decision called an award. The award is final and binding upon the parties. Historically, arbitration and mediation have been used to settle many different types of disputes. These disputes have typically fallen into one of the following categories - international disputes, commercial disputes, and labor disputes. A recent example of the successful employment of an international mediation is that conducted by former President Jimmy Carter in Bosnia. Additionally, there are numerous examples of the historic resolution of international conflicts by arbitration, such as its use by warring Greek city states and by various Catholic Popes who acted as arbitrators of conflicts between European countries during the Renaissance.
International attempts to provide a foundation for lasting, global peace have also incorporated arbitration. Two examples of this are the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which resulted from international meetings conducted between 1899 and 1907 in Hague, Netherlands and the development of the League of Nations in 1918 which employed arbitration as one mechanism of dispute resolution.
Outside the political arena, arbitration and mediation have been used by businesses world wide to settle their commercial disputes. In Europe, businesses of differing national origin have frequently submitted their controversies to arbitration. Here in the United States, arbitration and mediation are often used to settle labor disputes arising from conflicting interpretations of existing employment contracts, construction disputes between general contractors and subcontractors relating to construction damage claims, or between contractors and owners relating to the interpretation of work and payment clauses in construction contracts, and shareholder disputes concerning the valuation of stock in closely held corporations, to name but a few examples. The submission of a commercial dispute to mediation and/or arbitration may be done voluntarily or at the prompting of a governmental agency.
The federal government has promoted commercial arbitration since as early as 1887, when it passed the Interstate Commerce Act. The Act set up a mechanism for the voluntary submission of labor disputes to arbitration by the Railroads and their employees. Then, in 1925, Congress passed the Federal Arbitration Act which governs the arbitration of contractual disputes involving commerce. More recently, the federal judiciary has found employment disputes, civil rights violations, securities fraud, RICO and anti-trust claims to present arbitrable issues.
While for the most part, the decision of whether or not to engage in commercial mediation and/or arbitration is a matter of contract and has been historically decided by the parties, there have been several occasions in which a government has intervened to require mediation and/or arbitration of a commercial dispute when it felt that the dispute threatened national interests.
For example, in 1926 the United States government enacted the Railway Labor Act to monitor the labor-management relations of both the railways and the airlines. Under the Act, the National Mediation Board may intervene in a dispute and require mediation. If the dispute is not resolved by mediation, the Board will ask, but cannot require, that the parties submit to binding arbitration.
There is also historical precedent for governments requiring the submission of commercial disputes to compulsory, binding arbitration when they felt their national interests so required. This has been done by several countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Norway. The United States required mandatory arbitration of a railway labor-management dispute in 1963 after a lengthy strike by railroad workers.
In the near future, the Internet shall become the commercial backbone of the world economy. As it increases in importance to the national and international economy, its smooth, trouble free operation will be seen as essential to commercial, and hence, national interests and there will be a correlating desire on the part of the countries to provide increasing regulation of this last frontier. In order to minimize this governmental intrusion and the resulting restraint of trade inherent in all government regulation, Internet users can follow the historic lead of the railroad and airline industries and submit their controversies to arbitration and mediation - the dispute resolution mediums that do not add to existing legal precedent.
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