~ Amucheazi: Police in Anambra making lots of money from issues ADR can resolve
Anambra State Commissioner for Lands, Prof. Offornze Amucheazi (SAN) has called on lawyers in Anambra State to always encourage their clients to resolve issues through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms.
Amucheazi who stated this at an event organized in Awka, Anambra State by a law firm, Pinnacle Tree Attorneys, to celebrate their third anniversary, decried the amount of money police makes from Anambra people just because of the ego of the people for matters that can be amicably settled.
The Commissioner who was the keynote speaker at the event said the erroneous belief that ADR will kill litigation and take away the job of the lawyer is not true. He rather stated that using ADR to resolve disputes among parties can rather bring peace and settlement quicker, while the lawyer can also enjoy proceeds of his work without much headache.
Speaking under the theme: Promoting Peaceful Settlement Through ADR (Peace is Better), he said: “Many people think ADR will keep us away from practice, but it is not true. Today’s ADR has the features of both litigation and traditional ADR, and lawyers still make money from it and everyone is happy for it.
“I want to urge you as lawyers to see a way to always seek ADR in settling among your clients, even though I have only found out that arbitration does not work on some kind of cases, but ADR is a better way to solve issues.
“The money our people spend on police for cases is maddening. Police is making a lot of money from us. But these are matters that can be settled civily. But for ADR to succeed, parties must have open mind. Since becoming Commissioner for Lands, we have resolved 74 dispute through mediation. We get parties to sit down and we listen to them and they make out the decision themselves about how they want to resolve their issues. That is mediation, as against conciliation where you take over and tell them the decisions to take to resolve their matters.
“We are not saying litigation should die, no. You can’t do without litigation, but we should be open to ADR. The good thing is with ADR, you still maintain your business relationship after settlement. I have seen litigations where people spent money, go to court, get judgement after five to 10 years and still do not enjoy the benefits of the judgement.
“We will keep sensitizing our people that most of the matter we have in Court can be resolved through ADR. I have people who have come to me and said we want to settle because we know that peace is better than the time we have spent in court. So, let me tell lawyers, when you charge, note that they are better ways to resolve a process than litigation.”
Principal partner of Pinnacle Tree Attorneys, Barr. Chekwube Ezekwike in her opening address stated that she and her team choose the theme of their third anniversary to promote the resolution of issues through peaceful arbitration, instead of litigation.
She said: “There is a belief that lawyers love trouble, but I want to say that we are also peace makers. We are trained not to be afraid of war, but wisdom tell us that not all fight needs fire, we should rather be people who will bring settlement.
“Pinnacle Tree Attorneys are here to change the narrative. We don’t have to turn society upside down and instigate crisis because we are lawyers. This theme is not just what society needs, but where justice should be headed. When people carry wounds that justice cannot heal, we use ADR.
“Whether we like it or not, dispute is part of our life, but if dispute comes, what matters is how do you handle it. The beauty of ADR is that it gives you the peace litigation can not give you. It is mainly ego and pride that bring people to court, for cases that could have been amicably settled.
“So as we celebrate our third anniversary, we dedicate ourselves to service to humanity. We have settled troubles that could not be settled by litigation. We want to lead a team of lawyers that can prove that the courtroom is not the ultimate place for settlement. At Pinnacle, peace is our product,” she declared.
