The Process

Resolution Center offers a streamlined four-step process to help you get your dispute resolved quickly and efficiently. We want the process to be completely transparent for you, with no surprises, so please review the four stages below prior to beginning the process. If you have any questions, just email them to us at admin@resolutioncenter.com and we'll respond as soon as possible.

Stage one: Describe the issue.

Both the party filing the dispute and the party responding to the dispute have an opportunity to fully explain their perspective on the disagreement. Both sides can upload whatever they feel is relevant: documents, images, video, anything. Make sure to share all the relevant information at this stage. This information will be shown to the other party, but it also might be reviewed by the neutral who is assigned to the case, so make sure your presentation is factual and reasoned. If your case is very angry and emotional that may in fact undermine your arguments.

Stage two: Direct Negotiation

Once you've both uploaded your information you will be able to directly discuss the matter using the Resolution Center communication tool. Make sure you write your messages addressed directly to the other party and keep the tone respectful and productive. If you're able to reach an agreement in this stage, you can just click on the "finalize agreement" option and enter the substance of your resolution. Then when both sides indicate that they accept the agreement as drafted it will be forwarded to the court.

Stage three: Get assistance from a resolution expert

If you can't reach agreement through direct discussion, just click the link in the communications tool to request a neutral resolution expert to help clarify issues and brainstorm options. The resolution expert will enter the discussion, review the information submitted and messages already exchanged, and then communicate directly with both parties to clarify his or her understanding. You will have the ability to communicate confidentially with the neutral, and to communicate jointly with both the neutral and the other party.

Stage four: Evaluation

If you cannot reach a mutual agreement, the resolution expert will carefully evaluate the facts submitted and determine whether any additional questions need to be answered. Once the neutral determines that all necessary information has been gathered and shared, he or she will render a fair decision and communicate it to both parties. This decision will have the same enforceability as a decision rendered by a judge in a court. It will be memorialized by the neutral and filed with the court so that it can be reviewed later to determine adherence on the part of both parties.

Tips for Resolving Disputes

1. Focus on the problem, not the person. Don't make any judgments of the other party's character, accusations about their intent, or share opinions about them gleaned from other people. All that will is make them more defensive, and it will hinder your ability to resolve the matter at hand. Focus the conversation on the problem that is causing the dispute and possible solutions to that problem. Make clear that you see the problem as resolvable and the other side will likely take that perspective as well.

2. Avoid threats and insults. It might feel good to really tell the other side off for a minute or two, but it will almost surely harden their position and make them less willing to work with you on finding a solution. Imagine how you would react if someone threatened you or insulted your character. Would it make you want to genuinely work together to find a solution with that person, or compromise to their wishes? Probably not. Odds are the other party will react the same way you would.

3. Look for Win-Win solutions. Too often people look at their disagreements as zero-sum equations, where every advantage I get translates into a disadvantage for you. In fact, there are many ways that creative solutions can "expand the pie" – generating more value for both sides. This is true even in disputes over hard, quantifiable matters like money. Maybe you would be willing to wait a week or two to get repayment for the accident damage, giving the other side time to get his next paycheck, for instance. Explore some of these options and try to find ways where both of you get additional value.

4. Go "up on the balcony." Some times when we're in the middle of a dispute we just can't see how it could possibly be resolved. A good technique for getting a little perspective is to "go up on the balcony" and pretend you're an uninvolved individual looking down on the discussion. How would you recommend the matter be resolved if you were an outside observer? Or if you were a fly on the wall listening to the discussion? Another approach is to think ahead five years, and pretend you're looking back on the dispute. How will you have wished that you had responded in the situation? Looking at the matter from these different perspectives can help you find the best long-term solution, and find answers to seemingly impossible challenges.