ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the principal methods for resolving a dispute that are available within the UK, and elsewhere. It then looks at the advantages and disadvantages that go with each of them. The law is not fair when it comes to using the law to resolve a dispute. The law is just — it gives each side the opportunity to prove its case. The best method of solving any dispute arising out of a contract is negotiation. It will be much quicker, much less costly in terms of money and man-hours, and will probably produce a more equitable solution than any other method. Expert determination is the least formal method. It is used in the process industry, where it is very successful, and has wider applications as well. Adjudication is a high-speed arbitration process with very few rules. Arbitration as a method of solving commercial disputes has been around for a very long time.
