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An Alternative:
the
Conflict Resolution Center
Los Angeles,
Calif.
H
ow
often have you
taken your car in for
repairs, paid the bill
and then, a week later,
found that the repairs either
weren 't m ade properly or
weren't done at all?
In anger , yo
u
call the place of
repair and complain. The man–
ager testily retorts:
"lf
you
don't like it, sue
us!"
Or perhaps you have a neighbor,
once a good friend, but now sullen
because you accused him of damag–
ing your fence with bis riding
power mower.
8oth situations are fraught with
tension and unhappiness . And
both sides may suffer emotionally
and financially for months, never
actually resolving the problem.
Law courts in these instances
offer little help. Here in Los
Angeles, where
thousands
of
cases are litigated each year, the
average jury trial costs more than
US $10,000. On top of that, more
than
two thirds
of each dolla r
awarded by a court usually goes to
pay for the litigation. In the
United States alone, as estimated
by a Rand Corporation study,
annual legal costs regularly top
$2
billion!
Happily, an innovative system of
resolving such disputes is slowly,
like thc proverbial grain of a mus–
tard seed, taking hold in the United
States and elsewhere.
John Van de Kamp, California
attorney general, succinctly sums it
up: "The idea is simply to let indi–
viduals solve their disputes between
October 1985
by
Michael A. Snyder
themselves rather than become
antagonists guided by lawyers in a
courtroom."
The state attorney general is not
illustrating an empty wish. He
describes here the process that
takes place as many as 100 times a
month in the Community Dispute
Resolution Center in nearby Pasa–
dena.
This Center, founded and
funded in part by the Ambassador
Foundation, has the wide support
of judges, lawyers and community
officials. lnstead of let–
ting lawyers inflame and
battle out disputes, the
Center brings the offend–
ed parties together- face
to face-where they ham–
mer out a mutually
acceptable solution.
the wives and go out to dinner.'
And this comes from people whose
friendship may have been broken
many
years
ago," Mr. Zupan
emphasizes.
The Center serves severa) com–
munities in the Los Angeles area.
To use its services, a person may
contact the Center and file a com–
plaint. Instead of paying an expen–
sive retainer to an attorney, the
person simply pays
$5.
That is the
only cost.
The Center then contacts the
"It
is a very satisfying
experience," says Frank
Zupan,
45,
executive di–
rector of the Center, "to
see people whose friend–
ship was split by a small ,
insignificant matter
quickly resolve their dis–
putes and patch up their
friendship."
"We find that many
L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley, State Atty. Gen. John
Van de Kamp with Herbert W. Armstrong.
disputes ar'e simply the result of
misunderstandings," he continued
in an interview with
The Plain
Truth.
"When we actually get the
parties together, soon a mental
light bulb suddenly switches on.
'1
didn't realize that this is what you
meant,' one may say. And then lit–
erally, often in a matter of minutes,
good feelings are restored and an
agreement is reached. Many people
are so relieved and happy that one
often says, 'Hey, let's go borne, get
other party in the complaint and
gathers facts from both sides. A
date is set and the offended indi–
viduals come together privately at
the Center with a trained media–
tor.
Emotions and facts are sepa–
rated as a qualified mediator
clears the lines of communica–
tions. Together, in an atmosphere
of cooperation and problem-solv–
ing, the group works together on a
solution that is mutually accept-
37