Publications

What Day is it? Is it Tuesday? No, It’s Sunday. How was I able to solve this conundrum? A question many of us have asked ourselves when all structure seems to have gone out of our lives in the last few weeks, so we literally don’t recall the day of the week. In my case I knew it was Sunday when I brought in the morning paper and it had the Sunday comics neatly folded within.

It goes without saying that all aspects of our lives are affected by the dangers and restrictions imposed by the current COVID-19 pandemic. On the professional side, for those who practice civil and commercial litigation, courtrooms are closed. We are basically banned from practicing law out of our offices and all of the scheduled court appearances, deposition dates and other mandated discovery responses are extended, often without date.

As we are all challenged by the current pandemic, it strikes me that alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is perhaps no longer an alternative to traversing the court system, but rather the only viable method for the expeditious resolution of disputes. Why do I say this?

Lately, I am reminded of the John Lennon song, “Nobody Told Me There’d Be Days Like These.” Courts are essentially closed. Settlement conferences and trials are suspended for the foreseeable future. Without cases going forward, clients are in limbo.

“Stop the World: I Want to Get Off” was a musical with Anthony Newley. It originally opened in London in 1961 and made it to Broadway in 1962. It was followed by a film in 1966 and a revival in 1978. n the play, whenever something unsatisfactory happened to the lead character, named Littlechap, he called out, “Stop the World” and proceeded to address the audience directly. This occurred multiple times throughout the performance.

New York residents have been asked to “P A U S E.” Across the Nation there is an all-out effort to “Slow the Roll.” Our scientist-leaders have implored us to “social distance.” The historic and courageous acts of healthcare professionals and first responders, undertaken in Herculean proportions, are beyond description. Markets are strained. Business relationships are stressed.

Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks’s administrative order in combination with Governor Cuomo’s PAUSE (Policies Assure Uniform Safety For Everyone) executive order eliminate all but emergency in-person legal proceedings in the courts of the State of New York. As such, the courts are largely unstaffed. Surely, those measures are necessary to combat the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19.

In light of the current state of events, Alternative Dispute Resolution may be the only way to resolve cases in the foreseeable future. With many law firms and insurance carriers permitting staff to work from home, and social distancing becoming the “new normal,” it is vital that the legal community embrace technology in order to continue functioning.

By: Richard P. Byrne, Esq. | March 2020 The experience gained from a crisis can often prove meaningful – and even transformative – as adaptive changes, which otherwise may have evolved at a lesser pace, are accelerated. In response to the coronavirus, there has, literally, been an overnight movement by parties to utilize virtual ADR techniques to resolve […]

By: Honorable John P. DiBlasi, J.S.C. (Ret.) | March 2020 Several years ago, I served as a member of a tri-panel in a commercial arbitration. It consisted of three neutrals who were based in various locations on the East Coast. The attorneys were located on both the East and West Coasts. To accommodate the witnesses, a decision was made that […]