Arbitration v Mediation - a Comparison

March 2007

Historically, legal disputes have been resolved either by litigation or by arbitration. Mediation (a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution - ADR) is a new way to settle commercial disputes. Litigation is quite unlike mediation, but some consider that arbitration is a form of ADR and similar to mediation. In fact the two are fundamentally different. In his paper "Introduction to Alternative Dispute Resolution : A Comparison Between Arbitration and Mediation" Rhys Clift of Hill Dickinson describes these differences and sets out some supplementary information about mediation, its use and effectiveness.

The paper, which can be downloaded here , has been made available with the kind permission of Mr. Clift.