Lawyers Associated Worldwide and FORUM Dispute Management Form Strategic Alliance

MINNEAPOLIS — January 11, 2007 — www.adrforum.com – FORUM Dispute Management, an affiliate of the prominent alternative dispute resolution provider, National Arbitration Forum, and Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW), an international association of independent law firms have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on an international level.

“The FORUM and the LAW group have the same burgeoning interest in providing fair and affordable civil justice throughout the world; our new relationship will help achieve that vital goal,” said Roger Haydock, National Arbitration Forum’s Director of Education. “In our relationship with LAW, we will work to create opportunities for ways to resolve international legal problems that maintain business relationships, by resolving disputes fairly and quickly.”

The two organizations came together as a result of the efforts of the National Arbitration Forum’s Haydock and Chief Operating Officer Michael Kelly and three LAW members: Jason Lim Chen Thor, a partner in the Singapore-based firm of Michael Khoo and Partners; Seymour Mansfield, a partner at Mansfield, Tanick & Cohen PA, in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and LAW chairman, Christopher McCracken, a partner at Ulmer & Berne LLP, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) sessions are typically viewed as swift and affordable. Worldwide, ADR offers businesses and individuals a method of dispute resolution that minimizes the risks, delays and costs associated with litigating in foreign countries' local judicial systems.
Singapore LAW member, Chen Thor, noted that utilizing international ADR “will often avoid complex problems related to the enforceability of court decrees and the exercise of jurisdiction over business parties from different countries, which is a vexing and ubiquitous issue in international business disputes.”

This professional alliance will expand the FORUM’s panel of worldwide, independent neutrals by adding qualified, experienced LAW members to serve as arbitrators, mediators, special masters and other ADR neutrals in resolving disputes for parties. Currently, LAW has 87 member firms in 47 countries, and the FORUM has over 1,500 arbitrators and mediators located throughout the 50 United States, U.S. territories and 35 foreign countries.
“This strategic alliance between the FORUM and LAW helps create a vital part of the infrastructure essential to success of international business,” Minneapolis LAW member, Seymour Mansfield, added. “Our alliance will provide the resources and expertise for resolving disputes internationally without costly and time consuming litigation.”
For more information about Lawyers Associated Worldwide, please contact Nancy Eiler in Cleveland, Ohio, USA at +1.440.527.0218 or neiler@exponentialresults.com

For more information about the National Arbitration Forum or Forum Dispute Management, please contact Christina Doucet in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA at +1.952.516.6486 or cdoucet@adrforum.com.

About FORUM Dispute Management
FORUM Dispute management is an affiliate of the National Arbitration Forum (FORUM), one of the world's leading providers of alternative dispute resolution services. Committed to the integrity of the legal process, FORUM Dispute Management and the National Arbitration Forum share and maintain a distinguished panel of over 1,500 attorneys and retired judges who are located throughout the U.S. and in 35 countries around the world. By administering dispute resolution solutions that save time and money, the National Arbitration Forum and FORUM Dispute Management provide an efficient and effective service for all legal parties. The National Arbitration Forum and FORUM Dispute Management are 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/.

About Lawyers Associated Worldwide
Lawyers Associated Worldwide is an association of more than 87 independent law firms located in over 110 major commercial centers throughout the world, spanning six continents. Membership in LAW allows member firms to service the legal needs of clients who are expanding their operations and relationships into new domestic and foreign markets because of the increasing globalization of the business world. LAW’s practice group areas worldwide cover aboriginal law to zoning, planning to intellectual property, land use to mergers and acquisitions. http://www.lawyersworldwide.com
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