Volume 108 Issue 4 Dickinson Law Review - Volume 108, 2003-2004 3-1-2004 The Death of ADR: A Cautionary Tale of Isomorphism Through Institutionalization Douglas Yarn Follow this and additional works at: https://ideas.dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/dlra Recommended Citation Douglas Yarn, The Death of ADR: A Cautionary Tale of Isomorphism Through Institutionalization, 108 DICK. L. REV. 929 (2004). Available at: https://ideas.dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/dlra/vol108/iss4/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews at Dickinson Law IDEAS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dickinson Law Review by an authorized editor of Dickinson Law IDEAS. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. I Articles I The Death of ADR: A Cautionary Tale of Isomorphism Through Institutionalization Douglas Yam* I. Introduction A. A Tale of Capitulatingto Routine Once upon a time, people sought to avoid the courts and turned to an alternative to litigation. Third parties selected by the disputants would bring the principals together and urge them to reconcile. The disputants mutually shaped the process and agreed to the ultimate outcome. People far and wide spoke of the wisdom of this process, how it reduced hostility, reconciled adversaries, promoted community, and produced efficient outcomes. The government supported it because it was more effective in promoting peaceful relations than what the * Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law. J.D., University of Georgia; M. Litt., University of Cambridge; B.A., Duke University. Professor Yam is the Executive Director of the Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, a multi-disciplinary, inter-institutional, theory-building program, which focuses on the problems of institutionalizing conflict resolution mechanisms.