Less Conflict. More Purpose
By Cem Hamal
Established in 1977, CPR is an independent non-profit organization that helps prevent and resolve legal conflict more effectively and seeks to manage conflict to enable the purpose. The institute leads a global prevention and dispute resolution culture with the help sought from its diverse members ranging from top companies, law firms, lawyers, academics, as well as leading mediators and arbitrators around the world. CPR assembles committees, as well as hosting global and regional meetings to form innovative tool and resources to achieve best practice in its field. Therefore, the institution aims to constantly exceed its skills in dispute prevention and resolution. It does so by publishing monthly journals on related topics, and advocates for supporting and expanding the amount of dispute prevention and resolution globally. Moreover, to maintain best practice the institution specifically focuses on its quality, accountability, and collaboration; this allows responsiveness between members and the broader community and understand others better to help find better solutions to find the common ground.
The Mission
CPR’s mission is to harness the insights and experiences of its members to prevent and resolve business disputes primarily. The institute achieves this by; conveying a community of members to generate innovative and best practice resources to prevent and resolve disputes, promoting a global culture of dispute prevention and resolution, and resolving conflicts through an array of dispute resolution services and a Panel of Distinguished Neutrals.
Among other functions, the CPR Dispute resolution uses the thought leadership and the output of the institution to provide independent ADR services, such as mediation, arbitration, early neutral evaluation, dispute resolution boards and others. The idea is to execute the mentioned functions through innovative and practical rules and procedures and through CPR’s Panel of Distinguished Neutrals.
CPR: Before, Now and After
In the 1980s, CPR was the first to create a Policy Statement on Alternatives to Litigation (also called the “CPR Pledge”) to encourage signatories to come to the table and thoughtfully discuss alternate approaches to resolving their disputes, instead of automatically running to court. These CPR policy statements are bilateral and reflect the commitment of signing parties to considering ADR methods.1 Currently there are more than 4000 companies and 1500 law firms that are signatories.
CPR then continued its efforts to change the way the world resolves conflict by creating its slightly updated “21st Century Corporate ADR Pledge.” Adopting the original pledge’s principles, the 21st Century Corporate ADR Pledge enhanced the focus on corporate commitment to proactive and thoughtful ADR programs supported by CPR’s full range of best practices and tools. Most importantly, the signatories have pledged to seek more thoughtful ways to avoid litigation unilaterally--regardless of whether the opposing party has done so as well. Early pledge signatories include members of CPR’s Board of Directors and CPR Council as well as other leading corporations.2 Furthermore, CPR was the first organization to introduce lower litigation costs by bringing together corporate counsel and their law firms.
Decades later, CPR continues to facilitate meaningful inside-outside counsel collaboration by demonstrating the powerful incentives that dispute resolution offers to both sides of this partnership.3 Ever since the dawn of its creation, CPR and its trusted members have worked together tirelessly to create the most innovative and cutting-edge rules, protocols and best practices to address all business dispute resolution requirements.
1. CPR. (2020). History | CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution. CPR International Institution for Conflict Prevention and Resolution. https://www.cpradr.org/about/history
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.