Year 2000 Wire/Twelve Major Multinational Corps Commit To `ADR'
30 November 1998
Year 2000 Wire/Twelve Major Multinational Corporations Commit To Alternative Dispute Resolution (`ADR') To Resolve `Year 2000' Business Disputes
NEW YORK--November 30 1998--Supply Chain Firms and Other Companies Asked To Follow Their Lead
A dozen major multi-national corporations, including industry giants General Mills, Philip Morris and Bank of America, have signed a commitment to use mediation for Year 2000 business disputes, it was announced today by the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, the leading proponent of alternative dispute resolution ("ADR").
The pioneering "CPR Year 2000 ADR Commitment" obligates the signatory company to offer to negotiate and, failing negotiation, to mediate Year 2000 disputes. At the same time, it does not restrict the signatory's legal rights in any way.
"The 12 farsighted companies that are the first to sign the CPR Year 2000 ADR Commitment are true corporate leaders," said James F. Henry, president and founder of the CPR Institute. "By agreeing to use proven alternatives to litigation to address Year 2000 problems, they will save their companies considerable time and money as well as eliminate the hard feelings and disruption of business relationships that can occur during litigation."
"We don't know how big these problems will be or how many will arise," said Henry, "but clearly business wants to resolve them in a businesslike way. Our goal at CPR is to create an international network of businesses that commit to manage Year 2000 business disputes by using options to litigation. Signers of our Commitment will also urge their suppliers, customers, vendors and other strategic business relations to likewise commit to mediate disputes. We are asking our membership and Pledge signers -- nearly 2000 corporations and law firms in North America and Europe -- to follow the lead set by these 12 enlightened companies."
CPR was founded in 1979 as the Center for Public Resources/CPR Legal Program.
Among the corporations that have signed CPR Year 2000 ADR Commitment are: American Standard, Bank of America, Bechtel Group, CIGNA, Eaton Corp., General Mills, McDonalds, Philip Morris, PPG Industries, Inc., TRW, Inc.
National trade organizations, including the Information Technology Association of America, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, and the National Association of Manufacturers are all also encouraging their members to sign the CPR Commitment.
In developing the CPR Year 2000 ADR Commitment, CPR consulted with dozens of corporate counsel, attorneys, academics, trade association representatives and professional ADR practitioners to discuss the role of ADR in managing projected Year 2000 disputes. A panel of over 75 neutrals -- expert mediators and arbitrators -- devoted specifically to the Year 2000 problem has also been created.
"Our leading corporate members believe that, to maintain productivity, businesses should communicate, fix their systems, negotiate and mediate -- and try not to litigate," F. Peter Phillips, vice president of CPR says.
Phillips and CPR Vice President Kathleen Scanlon were chiefly responsible for assembling the meetings that resulted in the Commitment.
"We had the benefit of the thinking of the very best minds on this topic," Phillips says, "and there was remarkable agreement on what to do: Keep in close contact with your business relationships; jointly modify contractual agreements as necessary; fix your information and communication systems; help the people you rely on to fix theirs; and plan now to stay as businesslike as possible if you hit rough seas."
The CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, established in 1979, is a nonprofit alliance of 500 global corporations, leading law firms and legal academics at the forefront of alternatives to litigation. CPR*s Panels of Distinguished Neutrals -- 700 nationally and internationally prominent lawyers, former judges, legally trained executives and academics -- serve as mediators and in other neutral roles. CPR estimates the value of the disputes on which its neutrals work fluctuates between $6-9 billion at any given time.
NOTE TO EDITORS: A copy of the CPR Year 2000 ADR Commitment, and information about the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, other pre-dispute commitments for industry, and the CPR Panels of Distinguished Neutrals can be found at www.cpradr.org.