Alternative Dispute Resolution in the United States and Russia: A Comparative Evaluation

Unlike the United States with its extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution, this institution is in its infancy in Russia. Russia is only now developing an interest in out-of-court methods of dispute resolution. With economic changes, the number of new legal disputes has increased significantly. Russian courts of general jurisdiction are overloaded by civil cases. Ordinary litigation has become too expensive for the majority of the Russian people. In such conditions Russian society needs less expensive, more flexible alternatives to litigation. The purpose of this paper is to compare the ADR experiences in the United States and the Russian Federation, and to consider some methods for its development in modern Russian society