Originally from:
AAA Handbook on Mediation - 2nd Edition - Electronic
AAA Handbook on Mediation - 2nd Edition - Hardcover
CHAPTER 8 - Preview Page
TWO ALTERNATIVES TO LITIGATION:
AN INTRODUCTION TO ARBITRATION AND
MEDIATION
David L. Erickson and Peter Geoffrey Bowen
I. Introduction
Many civil disputes are still decided in courts of appropriate
jurisdiction. However in our litigious era, courts in virtually every state
have become overloaded, causing justice to be unreasonably delayed. In
Colorado, where this is being written, the backlog of civil cases in many
courts requires three or more years between filing and trial of the case.
Mary Mullarkey, Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, noted1
that every judge in Colorado needs to make a decision each and every
day in order to keep up with the backlog. Obviously that is impossible.
David L. Erickson of David L. Erickson, LLC in Denver, is a member of the
national panel of arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association, NASD, and the
New York Stock Exchange. He has been selected as the final arbitrator in over fifty
commercial and financial disputes among businesses. He was also the final arbitrator of
athletic disputes for the 1996 Olympic Games Trials. Erickson is the official Historian of
the Colorado Bar Association and is the author of three books and over fifty published
articles. Erickson holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Denver. He has
authored many articles and books.
Peter Geoffrey Bowen, Ph. D., of Morrison and Vail, is a member of the Department
of Management faculty at Daniels College of Business, The University of Denver. Bowen
is also a commercial arbitrator and is a member of the national rosters of neutrals of the
American Arbitration Association, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (aka
FINRA, the merged name of the New York Stock Exchange and NASD Dispute Resolution
regulatory authorities) and formerly the Eagle County Attorney’s Office. He holds a
doctorate in business administration with a focus on business law and its relevance to
management decisions. Bowen has authored two books and published many articles.
