Agapiou, A (2011) Scottish construction lawyers' awareness and experiences of alternative dispute resolution. Proceedings of Institution of Civil Engineers: Management, Procurement and Law, 164(4), pp. 181-192. ISSN 17514304
Abstract
It is widely acknowledged that lawyers generally perform a gate-keeping role, advising clients on the most appropriate form of dispute resolution for particular cases. Is it reasonable to believe that the attitudes of the legal fraternity in Scotland create a real limit on what could be implemented by a government that seeks to promote modern methods of dispute resolution as part of its civil justice reform agenda? Drawn from questionnaire- and interview-based research, the principal aim of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature and establish baseline data on Scots construction lawyers' awareness, attitudes and experiences of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and implications for the resolution of construction disputes. There is evidence from the questionnaire survey and participant interviews that more education in ADR procedures and their application could provide further opportunity to develop them as settlement tools in Scotland by building on more positive aspects of responses within the sample analysis. Only some in the legal fraternity have embraced the challenge of what the study has found to be regarded widely as an opportunity. Further education, training and publication of case law involving ADR may be necessary to convince doubters that ADR needs to be part of the menu of methods of dispute resolution for the modern lawyer in Scotland.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | contracts & law; disputes & arbitration; statistical analysis |
| Index terms: | questionnaire, civil justice, evidence, alternative dispute resolution, publication, interview, survey, lawyer, Scotland, resolution, arbitration, case law, construction dispute, dispute, statistical analysis |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, profession, dispute resolution, data science, conflict resolution, research dissemination and communication, evaluation and assessment methods, legal systems, Geography, contract management |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Information Management, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Contract Administration, Geographical Context, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here