Originally Posted in Mediation Matters
By Steven G. Mehta

The legal and ADR might just have a new tool to use in their conflict resolution toolbox. I recently wrote an article about this in the Daily Journal. I thought you might like to see the content of the article...

Los Angeles Daily Journal, Friday March 26, 2010

Let A Global Audience Decide Your Dispute

By Steven G. Mehta

It is 8:30 a.m. in Department 9 ¾ of the Los Angeles Superior Court. John Smith, an attorney for seventeen years arrives in the courtroom yawning slightly. The Court clerk asks him for two business cards, which he obligingly gives even though he only has two business cards left in his wallet. He sits down and now waits for the judge to appear so that he can attend the case management conference. Another routine hearing on another employment dispute in which he is representing an employer in a case brought by a disgruntled former employee claiming wrongful termination.

The Judge quickly leaves her chambers and sits down at her chair. “Good Morning counsel,” she says. “Good morning, your honor,” respond all the attorneys in the room.

The judge then calls the calendar saying, “The matter of Potter versus TMOM, Inc..” John Smith approached the counsel table and identified himself, “Good morning your honor. John Smith for the defendant.” At the same time, the opposing counsel, a new attorney from the plaintiff’s office also identified herself.”

“Counsel. I have reviewed your file,” said the Judge. “You have both agreed to alternative dispute resolution, Correct?” Both attorneys answered “Yes.”

So far, this hearing was just another routine hearing with routine orders. But what the judge was about to do was going to change the attorneys’ views of alternative dispute resolution for a long time to come.

The judge continued. “I am then ordering you to both submit your dispute to sidetaker.com.”

“Excuse me, your honor,” said Mr. Smith. “Sidetaker.com. What is that?”

“Sidetaker.com is a website where you can submit your dispute to anonymous third parties who will then vote on your dispute and will give you feedback to help you see a different perspective,” said the Judge.

“The site’s message “Let The World Decide Who's At Fault.” You wanted a jury trial counsel, well now you have one,” said the judge.

This story is fiction and has not happened in a courtroom – yet. But what an amazingly interesting site. What if all disputes in court used this site to find out what third parties think about their dispute?

Sidetaker.com let’s you air out your differences anonymously. No matter the dispute. Sidetaker.com lets you get a third party perspective and get an indication of whether other people with agree with you or not.

Currently, many of the disputes that are on sidetaker.com are of a personal nature, such as disputes between spouses, neighbors, co-workers, and friends. Take for example, one couple. She claims that her husband attended a two day bachelor party in Las Vegas. After that, he has acted suspiciously. She believes he cheated. She has now called all of his friends. She stated, “When he got back, I could tell he was being nicer than he usually is but he was also fumbling over what he was saying when I asked him what went on. he said none of the guys did anything. He said he didn't even talk to a single girl.” He, on the other hand, claims that nothing happened He further states that it was wrong to call his friends. He said, “I never lie to my wife. We did a hell of a lot of drinkin' up there but we never fooled around with any girls. I confessed I danced with a few and we hung out for a while but I never saw them after like 10 o'clock...and what really could happen before that?”

Well, according to Sidetaker.com, 55% of the over 2400 responses agreed with the wife. Here is a comment from a male user: “Usually, when you can tell a difference in attitude, it's a pure sign of wrongdoing. I'd have to say he did something wrong;” Another man commented as follows: “You got caught! I can't believe you couldn't come up with a more believable excuse than what you did…Sorry but I'm going to side with Nikki. Admit it because it's much harder to keep a lie going than it is to tell the truth.”

The fascinating thing about sidetaker.com is that it is an automatic and quick mock jury. I remember having mediated a premises liability case where a woman tripped and fell in a hole The actual accident had been videotaped and broadcast on youtube.com. There had been many comments from viewer describing different perspectives relating to the accident. I was able to print out those comments and use them during the mediation to assist the parties to evaluate the case and re-evaluate their extreme positions.

Sidetaker.com does a similar thing, but with voting. The obvious problem with sidetaker.com for legal disputes is that the parties may not submit their dispute voluntarily. But that is where – in this hypothetical world – a court could require the parties to submit the dispute. The parties would get fascinating feedback about the dispute. Many times, the parties’ extreme position could get tempered because of the comments made by the users. Just as with focus groups, the comments of the thousands of jurors could help one or both sides realize that their dispute is not cut and dry and that there is room for compromise. Otherwise, if they don’t decide the dispute, then perhaps one of those thousands of anonymous users will be on their jury.

Often, disputes end up in litigation and in trial because the one or more of the parties fervently believe that they are right and that there is no other way of seeing the matter besides their own. Focus groups, mock juries, and sidetaker.com can help clients and attorneys better understand the different perspectives. By understanding those perspectives, they will be better armed in being able to resolve their disputes short of costly and divisive trials.

Well, the story was fictional. The website is real. The concept is hypothetical. But the principal is sound. Hopefully, the resolution of disputes will be easier with sidetaker.com