Being human, disputes often arise between individuals and organizations. . In many organizations, there are already a number of policies and procedures that outline most of the ways people need to act toward one another depending on their role (e.g. supervisory versus employee, co-worker, etc.). However, since individuals differ in their ways of dealing with issues, reacting to one another, and in particularly in highly stressful situations there are times when formal policies are simply not enough to adequately handle each individual situation. When situations occur that are not solved adequately by policies and procedures, a dispute needs to be settled. This can be done essentially in one of two formal ways, assuming all other potential solutions have been exhausted: court-based adjusdication and ADR (alternative dispute resolution) (Schroeder, 2011).
Traditional litigation is a formal process with rules established by the various levels of government under the U.S. Constitution. Litigation is a legal procedure that is decided in a court of law and heard before a Judge, and sometimes a Jury. Litigation is adversarial, it is a battle between lawyers and strategies, and although the Judge is there to consider points of law and keep order, it is not necessarily the means to finding the truth of the matter. For example, one Criminal Court Judge in New York remarked, “I have nothing to do with justice…. Justice is not even part of the equation” (The Adversarial Legal System, 2010). Through the Court system, though, as long as the dispute is translated into legal issues, it can be decided in a court of law. This system allows the ceasing of certain actions, interpretation of documents (contracts, etc.), sue for money or property, or any number of issues. Litigation is more often than not quite expensive, sometimes so much so that many individuals cannot even afford to