ADR Support is a full-service staffing support bureau, providing an array of administrative support services for busy civil mediators around the nation. We provide a 'white label' service - our virtual staff, from case managers to bookkeepers, will integrate seamlessly into your existing ADR practice, helping everything run like clockwork.
Unlike traditional ADR panels or law firms, we've no interest in attracting attention. We'll work 'invisibly' in the background to help you optimize your own ADR practice; your clients need never know we're here. In effect, we're more like a talent agency - and YOU'RE the talent!
On launch in 2020, we originally offered 3 solutions: Case Management (everything leading up to the mediation), Billings Management (post-mediation) and our combined offering, Full Practice Management. Within a few months, it became clear that most everyone wanted the full suite of services, rather than hanging on to certain administrative tasks. Effective Jan 2022, ADR Support only now offers our Full Practice Management service to clients.
Our head office is based in downtown Miami, FL but we have experienced case management staff based in additional locations, including Phoenix, AZ and Los Angeles, CA, to allow us to serve all regions and timezones. (Note that ALL our staff, present and future, are based in the USA - we will NEVER cut costs by outsourcing such important work abroad.) Of course, for the purposes of representing your business, our virtual staff can appear to be based anywhere you NEED them to be. As of September 2021, we work with professional mediators in 6 states, covering all time-zones.
Currently, we work with civil mediation practitioners in mainland United States only. ADR Support generally works with mediators who have been settling civil/commercial disputes for several years, with projected annual billings of at least $150K. As of 2022, each MUM ("Mediator Under Management") pays their quoted management fee percentage OR a $2500 minimum per month, whichever is greater.
If you are a civil court judge considering transition to mediation practice, OR if you're an established trial attorney making the transition from part-time to full-time ADR practice, let's talk - our practice management team might choose to launch and manage your new ADR practice "out of the gate"!
NOTE: Due to an agreement, we are unable to offer our support services to panelists currently serving with SOME regional ADR panel firms based in the following states: AL, AR, CO, FL, GA, KY, MA, MO, OK & TX. Please contact our management for details.
Our core Case Administration team is built from the ground up to support the workflow of MEDIATIONS, rather than arbitrations, which are often more labor intensive to administrate. While our staff can certainly assist with some percentage of arbitrations, if the majority of your practice is in the commercial arbitration arena, you're better off exploring traditional solutions, including hiring dedicated (para)legal staff, or allowing long-established organizations such as AAA/ICDR handle all relevant case administration.
Not a problem. Although a majority of cases nationally will continue to be conducted online for the forseeable future, if you (or counsel) prefer to get "back in the room", we're working with court-reporting firms and 'flexispace' providers to facilitate that at very reasonable daily rates.
Both your Case Manager and Bookkeeper can be set up with a local area code phone number, so as far as your clients are concerned they're in your office. Designated staff will always answer the line using YOUR business name. Same with emails - if you wish, each can have an email address associated with your ADR practice:
Example: casemanager@yourfirm.com / accounts@yourfirm.com Before you know it, counsel and legal assistants will be building a rapore with your Case Manager, leaving you to focus on settling cases and growing your practice.Like traditional law firms, ADR Support charges a management fee - a percentage of your billings. We only make money when you get paid. There are some key differences that make our new business model unique, though:
a) We're representing YOU and YOUR own business - your attorney clients need never know we exist. We're here to help you 'invisibly', staying in the background.
b) Our management rates are the FAIREST in the North American legal industry - empowering solo ADR practitioners to keep more of their earnings over the long-term.
If you've not yet plugged your own numbers into our Savings Calculator tool, please do so. We're offering, BY FAR, the fairest management rates in the US marketplace.
Great question! In short - leveraged technology. We've been working around the clock since late summer of 2020, building infrastructure that allows us to find administrative efficiencies, including automating the generation of court documents, emails, automated invoices, and much more. By ensuring that best modern business practices are in place, supported by our case management and billing platform, we've found that we can significantly reduce the fees historically associated with traditional firms in the ADR/legal marketplace.
This is described in more detail here. You will remain in full control of your bank accounts and cashflow - we will simply help you set up a new depositary bank account, in which we can deposit all the payments from your clients, whether by check, ACH transer or credit cards. Each month, we'll wire all collected funds, minus our agreed management fee, to your regular local bank, along with a detailed ledger of what's been paid and what's outstanding. Our team will politely but persistently follow up with clients who are over the agreed terms of invoice payment - we aim to collect in excess of 98% of all your receivables.
There are ZERO startup costs - we only start getting paid when you do. On signing a brief engagement contract, we'll get straight to work with the orientation process, learning from you how our staff can best serve your needs and how to handle all interactions with your clients. As all of that takes a large investment of time on our part, there are no "free trial" periods offered.
Members of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN) are widely recognized as the most respected and in-demand civil/commercial ADR professionals in the United States. ADR Support's Co-Founder, Darren A. Lee, is the Founder and serving Executive Director of NADN and so we're pleased to offer NADN members preferential management rates as an additional benefit of Academy membership.
Our engagement contract is simple and brief - once we've met with you by Zoom and confirmed that we believe our team can provide real VALUE to your practice, we don't want to get bogged down in legalese and small-print! There is no fixed-term commitment. If at any time you feel that you're not benefiting from partnering with our team, you can simply walk at any time. (We'll do our very best to make sure you don't, though!)
Let's talk - please contact us via our Contact Form. We can courier corporate materials to your preferred address, then we'll set up a meeting by Zoom to review your particular needs in more detail.
