Question

Name and describe various clauses that contracts between parties of different nations may choose to include in their agreements.

Answer 1

Negotiation: Early Neutral Case Evaluation

Form of assisted negotiation. The parties select a neutral third party (generally an expert in the subject matter of the dispute) to evaluate their respective positions. The parties explain their positions to the case evaluator however they wish. The evaluator then assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the parties' positions, and this evaluation forms the basis for negotiating a settlement.

Negotiation: Mini Trial

Form of assisted negotiation.

A mini-trial is a private proceeding in which each party's attorney briefly argues the party's case before the other party. Typically, a neutral third party, who acts as an adviser and an expert in the area being disputed, is also present. If the parties fail to reach an agreement, the adviser renders an opinion as to how a court would likely decide the issue. The proceeding assists the parties in determining whether they should negotiate a settlement of the dispute or take it to court.

Negotiation: Negotiation

The simplest form of ADR is negotiation, a process in which the parties attempt to settle their dispute informally with or without attorneys to represent them. Attorneys frequently advise their clients to negotiate a settlement voluntarily before they proceed to trial. Parties may even try to negotiate a settlement during a trial or after the trial but before an appeal.


Negotiation: Facilitation


Form of assisted negotiation. Disputes may also be resolved in a friendly, non-adversarial manner through facilitation, in which a third party assists disputing parties in reconciling their differences. The facilitator helps to schedule negotiating sessions and carries offers back and forth between the parties when they refuse to face each other in direct negotiations. Technically, facilitators are not to recommend solutions. (In practice, however, they often do.) In contrast, a mediator is expected to propose solutions.