The Legal System and Adr

The Legal System and ADR

University of Phoenix

Law531

Michael Meeusen

The Legal System and ADR

Traditional litigation and ADR are two different ways to resolve a legal dispute. The use of traditional litigation takes you through a costly and lengthy trial before a judge and sometimes a jury. Whereas, ADR, also known as alternative dispute resolution, is a method of resolving legal dispute without going to trial. In the case of Rainy vs. Domino’s pizza, LLC traditional litigation was used but using ADR in the case may have been the better way to go.

In the state court system this case would begin by the plaintiff, Paul Rainy filing a complaint. Then Domino’s pizza, LLC has to file an answer to the plaintiff’s case, which in this case they deny being vicariously liable for the plaintiffs’ injuries. The discovery process is the next step to state court system. At this point both parties will engage in activities to discover the facts of the case from all parties’ involved as well as witnesses (Cheeseman, 2013, p. 45). A deposition is one of many examples of discovery that can be used to provide detail in a legal dispute. In terms of a deposition a witness or party gives testimony pretrial, under oath, to be used as evidence during the actual trial. In the state court system the last step used before actually going to trial is a pretrial hearing or settlement conference (Cheeseman, 2013, p. 47). In this pretrial hearing both parties try to facilitate a settlement before the trial to prevent having an all out trial in court. After the pretrial hearing comes the actual trial, which includes jury selection, opening statements from the lawyers on both sides, the plaintiff as well as the defendant’s case, closing arguments and then the verdict from the jury. The litigation system is a very costly and lengthy way to go in terms of a legal dispute. There are court cost to think about, lawyer fees, and also time missed from work to attend the trial. Both parties involved have