Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 20, 2025 29 (From left) Partner Stephen Sobin, Managing Partner Nicholas Paindiris and Partner Kathryn Bissonnette of law firm Brown, Paindiris & Scott, which recently launched a new mediation center to offer alternative dispute resolution services to clients. HBJ Photo | Steve Laschever Private Justice CT law firms embrace booming alternative dispute resolution market get someone who's able to handle a complex medical malpractice action or a personal injury action," Sobin said. ADR for businesses There are several factors driving busi- nesses toward alternative dispute reso- lution, experts say, including efficiency, privacy, specialized expertise and cost. Ryan McKeen, who has two decades of experience handling personal injury cases and currently runs McKeen Law, said the staggering backlog of cases in Hartford Superior Court illustrates why many parties are seeking faster options. "There are 55,000 pending cases in Hartford Superior Court," McKeen said. "You have like 12 judges. The sheer volume of cases makes it hard to get an efficient judicial process." Beyond speed, ADR also appeals for its discretion, particularly in an era when social media and online scrutiny can quickly damage reputations. "ADR offers privacy in addition to efficiency," McKeen said. "For compa- nies, they may not want their names dragged through the mud. They may not want public filings and media inqui- ries and things like that. So, they opt for handling the dispute privately." That confidentiality can be especially valuable for high-profile individuals or companies with trade secrets and proprietary information at stake. By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com A s Connecticut's court system strains under mounting case- loads, a parallel private justice system is flourishing, with law firms across the state jockeying for a share of the rapidly expanding alternative dispute resolution market. The numbers tell a compelling story: The American Arbitration Association — a nonprofit that administers mediation and arbitration cases nationwide — handled more than 13,425 business-to-business disputes in 2024, with parties claiming more than $21 billion at stake. Meantime, cases resolved through the association reached a conclusion in a median of 11.6 months — less than half the 31.6-month median for civil cases in U.S. District Court. Those kinds of delays through the traditional court system have real economic consequences. A study by consulting firm Micronomics estimated that litigation-related slowdowns cost the U.S. economy between $10.9 billion and $13.6 billion from 2011 to 2015 — more than $180 million per month. That efficiency gap has sparked what some observers call a sea change in how legal disputes, particularly business conflicts, get resolved in Connecticut and nationwide. "The most significant trend that I've seen over the last half-dozen years is the increase in pre-litigation mediation," said Robert L. Holzberg, a retired Connecticut Superior Court judge who chairs the alternative dispute resolu- tion practice at Pullman & Comley. "It makes sense to resolve cases quickly. Let's not have a public bloodletting, so to speak." Holzberg, who served 23 years on the bench before retiring in 2012, has witnessed the transformation firsthand. Shortly after he retired, he launched Pullman & Comley's alternative dispute resolution, or ADR practice group, which has since medi- ated or arbitrated more than 3,600 cases. Other firms have followed suit. In September, Brown, Paindiris & Scott (BPS) launched a mediation center head- quartered in its Essex office, led by three retired Connecticut judges with decades of combined judicial experience. ADR landscape Alternative dispute resolution encompasses two different processes with distinct characteristics. Mediation involves a neutral third party — often a retired judge or experienced attorney — who helps disputing parties reach a voluntary settlement. The mediator shuttles between parties in separate rooms, testing argu- ments and probing for common ground, but cannot impose a resolution. Both parties must agree to any settlement. Arbitration functions more like a private trial. Parties present evidence and arguments to an arbitrator or panel of arbitrators who render a binding deci- sion, subject to very limited appeal rights. Unlike mediation, arbitration produces a winner and loser, though the process remains faster and more confidential than traditional litigation. New players The BPS Mediation Center is led by retired Supreme Court Justices Peter T. Zarella and C. Ian McLachlan, along with retired Superior Court Judge A. Susan Peck. Joining BPS is a homecoming for Zarella, who was a partner at the firm from 1978 until 1996, when he was appointed as a Superior Court judge. After opening a new office in Essex in March, BPS had extra space, said Nicholas Paindiris, the firm's managing partner and co-founder. "We had all these excess rooms for lawyers, so we could easily accommo- date a mediation for as many as four or five different parties," Paindiris said. But the decision went deeper than available conference space. The 25-attorney firm recognized that Connecticut's court backlog that accu- mulated during the COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity. "The trial dockets are so slammed," said Kathryn Bissonnette, a BPS partner who focuses on family law. "Within the last two years, they just started clearing up the dockets." That backlog extends even to media- tors, said Stephen Sobin, another BPS partner who handles complex medical malpractice and personal injury cases. "There are a lot of mediators that are booked three, six, even more months out, especially when you're trying to Robert Holzberg Ryan McKeen Continued on next page

• Cover