The law provides disputants and their counsel with a variety of methods for engaging in settlement negotiations at every phase of the litigation process. The law also directs courts to encourage early settlement negotiations, while requiring negotiations to be voluntary and non-binding, so that lawyers and litigants remain in control of the settlement process. Individual chapters explain the roles of judges, lawyers, and litigants and the dynamics of dispute resolution. A subsequent chapter explains dispute resolution processes, including court-annexed medication, court-annexed arbitration, mini-trials, moderated settlement conferences, summary jury trials, special masters, ombudsmen, hybrid procedures, appellate settlement conferences, and private arbitration procedures. Further chapters discuss specialized fields like family disputes and consumer disputes, the confidentiality of the dispute resolution process, the training and qualifications of settlement facilitators, impacts of alternative dispute procedures, and their future. Directory of dispute resolution centers and list of information sources.