Alternative Dispute Resolution Serving Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is an umbrella term for various methods of resolving legal matters other than litigation in a courtroom. In the employment law setting, ADR typically refers to processes such as mediation, early neutral evaluation, and arbitration.

Alternative dispute resolution can be used to resolve civil disputes without the structural and procedural limitations of litigation. Parties are empowered with the flexibility to craft their own solution rather than being constrained by court orders or judgments. In addition, ADR often moves more swiftly than the litigation process, allowing parties to reach a resolution relatively quickly in a way that is more cost-effective and less disruptive than litigation.

Alternative Dispute Resolution for Pennsylvania Business, Employment, and Real Estate

Attorney Kim Kisner has over 20 years of legal experience and has assisted hundreds of her clients resolve their conflicts in employment terminations, business disputes, and real estate matters. She is now applying these honed skills formally as a neutral primarily in the areas of employment law, business, and real estate. Her background in running a small business makes her an especially skilled neutral in business disputes, including those involving family businesses or succession planning. As a real estate attorney and real estate investor, Kim also brings a great depth of knowledge to the table in mediating disputes relating to the sale of residential real estate, home defects, and landlord-tenant issues.

Kim offers virtual or in-person mediation services at a location of the parties’ choosing for a low flat-rate or hourly fee. Due to the pandemic, in-person services will proceed in accordance with CDC guidelines and requirements of the parties’ jurisdiction, as well as their individual comfort levels.

Using either the Zoom or Microsoft Teams platform, Kim can interact with all parties, regardless of their locations. Breakout rooms in these platforms are used for private caucuses; screen sharing enables parties to share documents.

She offers a range of alternative dispute resolution services for federal and state court disputes, including:

• Mediation, in which a neutral third party serves as an impartial facilitator in a dispute between two or more parties. Though selected by the parties, the mediator does not give legal advice or issue a binding opinion. The mediator’s role is to help the parties reach a mutually acceptable resolution, which can then become the basis of a binding court order. Mediation is the most commonly used form of ADR.

• Arbitration, in which parties present evidence and arguments in their respective cases to an arbitrator, who issues a binding decision on the dispute. Arbitration is the least commonly used form of ADR, as it removes the parties’ ability to identify a resolution and places it with the attorney arbitrator hearing the matter.

• Early Neutral Evaluation, in which an impartial attorney with a background in the subject matter of a dispute issues an evaluation of the case early in the process. The evaluation is both confidential and non-binding and is geared toward encouraging the parties to reach a settlement. This is often used when one or more parties has unreasonable expectations about the case's value or how the dispute should be resolved.

Mediation for State and Federal Disputes in Western Pennsylvania

Kim holds a Martindale-Hubbell AV-Preeminent peer review rating, reflecting excellence in legal ability and ethics. She has been appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania to serve as a neutral in that Court’s award-winning ADR program. The Western District of Pennsylvania recognizes that ADR is so beneficial to the resolution of conflicts that it mandates some form of ADR in most civil matters filed with the court.

In addition to serving as a neutral in federal court in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Kim Kisner also mediates disputes in Fayette, Greene, Washington, Beaver, Butler, and Westmoreland Counties in Western Pennsylvania.

If you have questions about ADR in Western Pennsylvania, please contact Kim Kisner to schedule a consultation.