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Alternative Dispute Resolution Techniques Prove Highly Beneficial

[Paris, France]— “When tempers flare, talks stall and anarchy threatens on a construction site, it has proven helpful and efficient to enlist the help of alternative dispute resolution skills”, says Claude Amar, managing director of The John Hardy Group International. Mr Amar was one of five highly experienced international mediators on a special Drafting Committee selected to present the problems that were used for the 4th ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition. The competition took place February 7 - 12, at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, France.

“Contracts, in the construction world, are relatively simple, therefore the disputes are seldom based on contract interpretation. Disputes rather focus on construction documents such as shop drawings, specifications and techniques, reasons why the industry has to recourse to “experts”, when the conflict ends up in Court,” adds Amar. “ As a manager, I am often faced with chairing complex meetings, team negotiations and disputes.”

On a construction job, like in many other projects and negotiations, The John Hardy Group, experts in this area, have discovered the risk of wasting time and money while the conflict escalates justifies the benefits of using ADR techniques in order to swiftly resolve the dispute in its early stage.

Construction disputes represent 15 % of the disputes brought to courts or arbitration. In these times of financial crisis, court or arbitration are more than ever a luxury in terms of time and therefore money. Quickly resolving conflicts can be decisive for the survival of projects and companies.

A John Hardy Group International partner and managing director, Claude’s professional training comes from architectural and financial backgrounds, with experience as a hotel developer, hotel owner and owner representative. Claude developed a passion for alternative dispute resolutions techniques and was trained at the Centre for Mediation in Law by Gary Friedman in San Francisco, is an IMI (International Mediation Institute) certified mediator and a member of the IMI Independent Standards Commission, a member of the CMAP (Centre de Médiation et d’Arbitrage de Paris), the CERC (European Council for Conflict Resolution, the ICM (Institute for Conflict Management, Santa Monica, CA) and the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce), and took the Arbitration Course of the CMAP. He also attends regularly the Harvard Law School’s Program On Negotiation.