A partner with international law firm Tully Rinckey has come up with an online arbitration service that he hopes can help clients avoid the backlog of cases in the courts due to Covid-19.

Setanta Landers watched clients suffer earlier this year because the courts could not handle their cases quickly, and set out to find senior counsel who would join an online arbitration platform in Ireland.

The result is Armistice, which offers an online forum for those involved in a commercial dispute where they can come together to choose — mutually — an arbitrator from a distinguished panel to adjudicate their dispute in a timely manner. 

According to Landers: “It can bring finality and certainty of costs to these persons at a fraction of the cost and time needed to resolve matters before the courts”.

“The last recession taught us that when faced with the bigger picture it can make sense to seek to resolve disputes neatly with certainty around costs, time frame, and certainly with regard to the adjudicator. I see Armistice as complementing the legal profession and its ability to operate effectively electronically and remotely. Out of every crisis comes innovation.”

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The Armistice platform allows parties to have their own electronic ‘space’ as well as a shared space, and each party can share files, information and sensitive materials easily, in their space and the joint space, without worrying about data security or compromising confidential documents.

The Courts Service this week announced that only very urgent matters will be addressed for the next six weeks, and there are already hundreds of cases awaiting attention.

Landers (pictured above) added that because of the increasing backlog, many parties involved in litigation are suffering, not only because their disputes aren’t capable of being resolved in a timely manner, but also because in a time of acute financial crisis are reconsidering the resources that may be available for litigation.