Resolve most disputes for 90% less time, cost and stress than typical litigation

Challenge: How to resolve disputes quickly, sensibly and

with finality, for modest cost?

Litigation: Nobody with a genuine dispute wants to spend years of their lives, heaps of money, and lots of stress in pursuit of an uncertain result from an opaque process that less than 5% of participants ever complete.

Sensible humans need something quicker, fairer, and less expensive - a process that makes sense, feels fair, produces closure, and lets them get on with their lives without too much remorse.

Solution: A truly effective
alternative to adversarial litigation

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes offer a solution, if they provide:

• Pragmatic, understandable, and fair processes and,

• Guaranteed, legally binding outcomes, delivered within weeks and,

• Transparent, reasonable, fixed process fees.

Unfortunately, nothing in the Australian market currently delivers on all three requirements, and court lists are as bogged down as ever … until SODA.

Watch this short introduction video

SODR (Solution-Oriented Dispute Resolution)

SODR combines the best features of Mediation and Arbitration and avoids their downsides. It delivers speed, flexibility, guaranteed finality, and closure for a relatively modest, fixed fee. Experts and lawyers can participate, but are not required.

The process begins as a facilitated conversation, and usually ends with a voluntary (written) Agreement between the Parties, enforceable as a contract.

In rare cases Parties can’t reach agreement. Then the Facilitator makes a binding decision that’s legally enforceable as a contract. This process guarantees a legally binding outcome within six weeks of commencement.

Just in case: if all Parties reject the Facilitator’s decision they can refer their dispute to an Independent Decision Maker, at no extra cost. This will add more time.

The SODR Process vs Costly Litigation

Time and Cost*

Preliminary Planning Meeting = $500*

Issues and claims in dispute.
Nature and timing of process.
Presentation of arguments and evidence.
Total cost

Process Fees - fixed at the Planning Meeting:

$5,000 to $20,000 (fixed fee)*
Based on dispute complexity, not value.
Parties share fees equally or agree otherwise.
Parties bear their own costs of experts and lawyers (if required).

*subject to GST

Outcomes

Written Agreement = Contract or,
Decision by Facilitator = Contract.

In either case the dispute is concluded.

Benefits

Total time and cost commitments are usually less than 10% of typical litigation costs.

Personal, relationship, financial and collateral damage are also likely to be much less than in formal litigation processes.

Mediation vs SODR

We’re often asked how SODR compares with Mediation.

We say it’s a far better process for any individual or business with a genuine dispute they want to resolve practically, and finally.

Mediation cannot guarantee a final outcome and closure;

SODR can

SODR uses advanced Mediation tools, in robustly proactive ways, to guide parties to agreement.

If that fails the process becomes decisional, under the Engagement Contract.

After commencement no party can unilaterally block the process. If a party withdraws, the Facilitator becomes a Determiner under the Engagement Contract. They make a legally binding decision on the basis of what they’ve learnt through the process. The threat of this usually keeps the parties at the negotiating table.

Time & Cost Summary

Process Costs (+GST): Preliminary Planning Meeting $500. Process Fees (fixed) $5,000 - $20,000.

Own Costs: Each party bears their own cost of lawyers and experts.

Time (start to finish): Average - 4 weeks; Maximum - 6 weeks

Next Steps

Our proven process gives you
finality & closure...

Complete the form below and a SODR specialist will get back to you:

First Name *

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Briefly explain the nature of your dispute and we’ll get back to you promptly to help get things started.

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Meet your Dispute Resolution Specialists

Jon Kenfield MBO

The Solutionist Group (est. 2004)

Why trust me?

I qualified as an arbitrator in 1986 and as a mediator in 1988 at the same time I was establishing Deloitte’s forensic accounting services in Australia. I acted as the financial expert in many Commercial, Criminal, and Family Law cases - observing how much time, effort, cost and mutually assured destruction (“MAD”) litigation caused.

I talked to many litigants. None were happy with the litigation process. Most felt stressed and lost in the legal system; would prefer to solve problems than fight battles, and were horrified by the cost and inefficiency of the process compared to business processes. Over 20 years ago I became an advanced mediator and grade 1 arbitrator – the highest ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) qualifications available in Australia. Then I became an Expert Determiner.

Unfortunately, mediation doesn’t guarantee finality; arbitration can get bogged in legal machinations, and although expert determination is flexible, its use is limited to highly technical subject matter.

There didn’t seem to be anything that really worked well for ordinary people with ordinary problems, so I created SODR, mixing the best features of all three ADR processes with some secret ingredients from international practices. SODR suffers neither delay nor ambiguity. It’s the process sensible businesspeople have been looking for. It’s the only process I fully recommend, because it’s guaranteed to work better than anything else I’ve seen in almost forty years in ADR.