Why ADR Works the GE story Bruce Campbell General Counsel, GE Africa

Transcription

1 Why ADR Works the GE story Bruce Campbell General Counsel, GE Africa

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3 GE AFRICA - HISTORY YEAR MILESTONE 1898 Starts operating in Africa Opens first Africa office in JHB Opens offices in Ghana, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda Exits South Africa as part of Apartheid sanctions 1995 Re enters South Africa post Apartheid 2009 Signs landmark company to country agreement with Nigeria Africa positioned as region, Kenya as HQ Signs MOUs with Kenya and Ghana Announces $1 billion investment in Nigeria to build a service, manufacturing and maintenance facility Years in Africa 1500 employees ~$2 billion revenues

4 GE Culture and Drivers A process-driven organization Early adopters of Six Sigma, Lean etc. Data driven, analyze everything Believe in constant learning and feedback Business model relies heavily on relationships Disputes impact productivity Every $1 we spend on a dispute is $1 we cannot - pass on to customers, - invest in our products, or - give back to our shareholders.

5 Dispute Resolution - Our Journey 1995: exploding costs of litigation triggers a deep dive into dispute resolution by GE: conflicts are inherent part of doing business view conflict management systematically in-house counsel must play an active part in resolving disputes Conclusion: Early Dispute Resolution lowers cycle time & cost, reduces uncertainty of result, maintains relationships

6 Dispute Resolution 10 Key Issues 1. Notification procedures. 2. Business ownership, no delegation. 3. Lawyer and manager jointly determine strategy. 4. Early Case Assessment (ECA). 5. Mediation strongly favored but not universal. 6. Certain cases might require litigation. 7. Regular review of case strategy and settlement opportunities. 8. Stringent cost/value management. 9. Deep relationships with outside counsel. 10. Navigating institutions and personalities.

7 Early Case Assessment - Sets the stage for all that follows - Early read, based on limited documents and facts - Provides owner with objective, unbiased assessment - Counsel must commit to: 1) Best case 2) Worst case 3) Most likely outcome - Learning to trust each other - Goal setting and expectations - Estimates, budgets, alternative fee arrangements

8 ECA Pricing Products Instead Of Hours 1. scope of work defined separately for each category of ECA 2. Defined services based on the agreed documents, witnesses, etc., Contractual documents Number of witnesses < 1MM 1- < 5MM 5- <10MM 10- < 25MM > 25MM Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 1 max 2 max 5 max 7 All relevant witnesses Other documentation preselected; max 20 preselected; max 40 preselected; max 60 Expert No expert No expert Discussio n with expert Full review of all relevant documents Discussion with expert Creating a market more meaningful pricing data Better risk sharing > Allocation of law firm + client inefficiencies > Risk taking in complex low value cases Price comparisons speak volumes > substantial differences in pricing same services (+/- 500%) > but almost identical prices quoted by boutique firms Full review of all relevant documents Discussion with expert

9 What we look for in an arbitration (but don t often get)... More speed, less waste Early decision on dispositive issues - not used enough - reduces costs, accelerates proceedings Arbitrators provide early views of strengths/ weaknesses - commonly used in German style arbn. - but must be carefully managed More transparency - publication of awards - qualitative information on arbitrators

10 ENGAGEMENT & OWNERSHIP \ PROFITABLE GROWTH