National Arbitration Forum and Hart ADR Merge to Form - FORUM Dispute Management in California

LOS ANGELES and MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., May 17, 2006 — The National Arbitration Forum and Hart ADR, founded by Ross R. Hart, Esq., have recently joined together to better serve the dispute resolution needs of the California construction and real estate industries. This strategic partnership will allow parties with construction and/or real estate related disputes to access an experienced panel of arbitrators and mediators and will create a more efficient resolution process. The merged entity is now named FORUM Dispute Management.

FORUM Dispute Management will leverage Hart ADR’s specialized panel of construction arbitrators and mediators and the National Arbitration Forum’s state-of-art case management system and its ability to customize specialized ADR programs.

“This partnership seemed like a natural fit,” said Ross Hart. “The National Arbitration Forum’s administration services are exemplary. By joining together, we can offer clients an experienced panel and stellar case management. It is a win-win for those in need of efficient and effective dispute resolution.”

The California FORUM Dispute Management panel will initially be comprised of Ross Hart, Tom Craigo, Mike Bayard, Joseph Liebman and Robert Mann, who possess over 75 years of combined legal experience in construction, construction defect, insurance and other related disputes. The office will be managed by ADR industry veteran, John Horn, who is western regional director of the National Arbitration Forum.

“Ross and the other Hart ADR panelists are preeminent experts in the field of construction,” said Ed Anderson, managing director of the National Arbitration Forum. “Partnering with Hart ADR helps expand our reach, both geographically and in terms of expanding our service offerings. We have been strengthening our construction ADR services over the last few years and forming this new entity that focuses primarily on construction-related disputes is the next step in the right direction for us.”

FORUM Dispute Management’s services will focus primarily on mediation and will utilize the National Arbitration Forum’s ability to provide flexible out-of-court solutions for a variety of construction and real estate disputes.

For more information about FORUM Dispute Management and its services, contact 213-487-8660 or construction@arb-forum.com or visit http://www.arb-forum.com/focus/construction/.

About FORUM Dispute Management
An affiliate of the National Arbitration Forum located in Southern California, FORUM Dispute Management provides construction alternative dispute resolution services to parties in the western United States. With a distinguished panel of mediators and arbitrators, FORUM Dispute Management handles construction and real-estate related disputes in an efficient and effective manner.

About the National Arbitration Forum
The National Arbitration Forum is one of the world's leading providers of alternative dispute resolution services, including arbitration and mediation. Committed to the integrity of America’s legal process, the National Arbitration Forum maintains a distinguished panel of over 1,500 attorneys and retired judges who follow and apply the substantive law when rendering legal decisions. National Arbitration Forum mediators and arbitrators are located across the U.S. and in 29 countries around the world. By administering dispute resolution solutions that save time and money, the National Arbitration Forum provides an efficient and effective service for all legal parties. A leader in the dispute resolution industry for 20 years, the National Arbitration Forum is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota with offices in New Jersey and Southern California. For more information visit the National Arbitration Forum's website at http://www.adrforum.com/.