Carib Resolve launches as alternative to costly court battles

By Latrishka Thomas
Latrishka.thomas@antiguaobserver.com

For years, attorney Elizabeth Laviscount watched a familiar pattern play out in her legal practice: a disagreement would surface, both sides would dig in, and before anyone had really explored what was driving the conflict, the matter was headed to court. It’s a pattern she’s now built an entire institution to interrupt.
On Wednesday, Laviscount’s vision became a reality with the official launch of Carib Resolve Dispute Resolution Centre, Antigua and Barbuda’s first dedicated space for resolving disputes outside the traditional courtroom.
The launch was held at the Precision Centre before an audience of members of the judiciary, attorneys and representatives from across the country.
Laviscount, a partner at May Knight Laviscount & Partners, serves as founder and managing director of the centre. She said the idea for Carib Resolve developed gradually, shaped by a growing interest in what lies beneath a dispute rather than simply how it gets litigated.
“That interest continued to grow and eventually developed into the idea of establishing a dedicated space where individuals, businesses and organisations could access different methods of resolving disputes,” she said, adding that the goal was to make alternative dispute resolution more accessible and better understood across Antigua and Barbuda and the wider Caribbean.
Addressing guests at the launch, Laviscount framed the centre’s mission around a single guiding question.
“Does every dispute have to begin its journey towards resolution on the road to litigation? We believe the answer is no,” she said. “At present there is no dedicated dispute resolution centre of this kind in Antigua and Barbuda. Carib Resolve was created to fill that space.”
She added that choosing to explore resolution is not a sign of weakness or surrender: “Choosing to explore resolution does not mean that you do not believe in your position. It does not mean surrendering your rights, and it does not mean that every dispute must end in compromise. It simply means being willing to ask what is the most effective course towards resolving this particular dispute.”
Carib Resolve has a physical office at Warner Road, Fort Road, where individuals and businesses can walk in, ask questions, and determine which dispute resolution process best suits their situation. The centre can also be reached remotely through its website, www.caribresolve.org.
Once a matter is referred to Carib Resolve, the centre assists with the administrative process and helps connect parties to mediation, arbitration, or another appropriate resolution track. Laviscount stressed the centre is not built around a single practitioner but draws on a team of qualified local and regional mediators and arbitrators covering commercial, employment, construction, insurance, personal injury, and family and estate matters, among other areas.
The evening’s feature address came from Justice Birnie Stephenson, a judge of the High Court with nearly four decades of legal and judicial experience across the region. Speaking on the theme “From Conflict to Collaboration”, Justice Stephenson laid out the toll traditional litigation takes on the people who go through it.
“It’s adversarial. The process is designed to create winners and losers,” she said. “And it’s emotionally exhausting. Families are torn apart, business relationships are destroyed, and communities are divided.” Drawing on her own time on the bench, she added: “Most disputes do not actually need a judge to decide them.” She also pointed to the practical savings mediation offers over a courtroom battle, noting that “mediation costs approximately 40 to 60 per cent less than litigation” and that cases which might otherwise take years in court can often be resolved within months.
A special presentation followed from Theo Jones, attorney at law and Director of Legal Services at the Caribbean Agency for Justice Solutions (CAJS), who made the case for alternative dispute resolution using hard numbers from the courts. He cited World Bank data showing it now takes 476 days on average to enforce a simple commercial contract in Antigua and Barbuda, up from 351 days in 2011.
“That is not just the delay,” Jones said. “That is a business cycle. That is a mortgage in arrears. That is a family enterprise that does not survive long enough to collect on its own judgment.” He also pointed to results from elsewhere in the region, noting that mediation in Jamaica’s parish courts is now resolving roughly 80 per cent of referred matters. “We cannot judge our way out of this,” he said. “No bench, however eminent, however hard-working, can outrun a docket that grows faster than it can be heard. The answer thus is not only more courtrooms. The answer is more doorways.” Jones confirmed CAJS will formally support Carib Resolve’s accreditation standards, mediator training and data collection going forward.
The programme continued with a special address titled “The Power of Dialogue: Building Understanding Beyond Conflict”, delivered by Charlene Selkridge, a member of the Industrial Court and a mediator. That was followed by a roundtable discussion exploring the practical advantages of dispute resolution across key industries, moderated by attorney, mediator and arbitrator Tracy Benn-Roberts. Panellists included Ralph Potter, President of The People’s Union; Charlene Selkridge; and attorney Kemar Roberts, a partner at One Legal Caribbean Law Firm.
Organisers say Wednesday’s launch marks the beginning of a broader push to build what they are calling a culture of resolution – one that starts in Antigua and Barbuda but is intended to extend across the wider Caribbean.