Lawyer Urges Litigants To Explore ADR

A Port Harcourt-based
lawyer and human rights crusader, Barr. Jackson Assor, has called on litigants and litigators to explore the window opened by Alternative Dispute Resolution in settlement of disputes.
Barr. Assor, who stated this in Port Harcourt at the weekend, expressed optimism that use of ADR would free our courts from the present glut of cases.
He told The Tide that litigants in Rivers State were not making good use of the opportunities offered by the ADR.
According to him, “in the ADR we have arbitration, mediation and conciliation, which litigants or aggrieved persons could use to settle dispute. Adjudication takes quite a lot of time and courts are not enough to resolve all the disputes on time. You can see dispute lasting for as much as ten years”.
Barr. Assor urged aggrieved persons to avail themselves of the opportunities offered by the ADR in order to quickly resolve their disputes.
He said issues arising from business relationships and contracts were better treated with the ADR.
He said business relationship strained by years of litigation find it difficult to continue to relate.
Barr. Assor said apart from criminal matters other matters were convenient for the ADR.
He called on lawyers to educate themselves on alternative dispute resolution.

Chidi Enyie