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Conflict Resolution Experts Develop an Outstanding Site

© Joan Fumia

If you are even remotely considering engaging in some form of conflict resolution to settle a dispute, you must check out Online Resolution at http://www.onlineresolution.com/. Don't be leery of the site because it promotes a cyberspace venue for the settlement of disputes, even those of a face-to-face nature. I believe that once you view the site, you will understand how a variety of "earthbound" problems can be successfully resolved over the Internet.

There are several reasons why I feel Online Resolution (OR) is an outstanding site for a general audience. For starters, the site is attractive, with a good balance between text and graphics. It's easy to navigate, and the pages appear quickly.

If you are unclear about the difference between mediation, arbitration, and negotiation, OR offers clear, concise definitions of the different types of conflict resolution. Furthermore, the site provides guidance as to which type of settlement process might be most effective for a particular dispute situation, an analysis not always included in other dispute resolution programs.

Another reason I like the OR site so much is the explicit way in which the nuts and bolts of the program are described. A reader of the material will easily learn how OR fees are derived and what engaging in an OR settlement process will cost depending on the value and complexity of a dispute; how the fees will be allocated between the parties; how the participants will communicate with one another; the roles and responsibilities of the participants and the neutrals; and the time frame for settlement.

It should be no surprise that OR is a classy, informative, and highly professional site. The co-founders of OR are leaders in the ADR (alternative dispute resolution) field. Colin Rule, CEO of OR, was formerly with the National Institute for Dispute Resolution (NIDR) and a general manager of the Mediation Information and Resource Center (MIRC), a site that is still one of the most comprehensive mediation sites on the Internet. By the way, OR provides a link to MIRC.

Jim Melamed is a founding co-director of MIRC, a former Executive Director of the venerable Academy of Family Mediators, and a member of the Editorial Board of Mediation Quarterly, a highly regarded journal in the dispute resolution field.

John Helie, another founder of MIRC, also founded ConflictNet, a significant network for those with either a professional or academic interest in conflict resolution.

If any of you actually participate in a settlement process through Online Resolution, please share your opinions and impressions with the rest of us.