Law NEWS - Report released on Dispute Resolution in the ICT Industry
The Institute of Arbitrators & Mediators Australia (IAMA), the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and the Project Management Institute (PMI) have released the results of a 2006 survey of disputes within the ICT industry. The report discloses that almost half of the respondents' ICT contracts were the subject of a dispute, with 75% of those disputes proceeding to formal dispute resolution. The report considered that the large number of disputes, most of which involved amounts between $50000 and $500000, made the ICT industry well suited for alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
The survey revealed that respondents were familiar with the more common forms of ADR such as arbitration and mediation, however, other methods such as dispute review boards were not commonly used, despite proven effectiveness in other industries. The report recommended that ICT businesses should ensure that their contracts include properly drafted and appropriate dispute resolution clauses. In addition, project scope and specifications need to be more clearly defined as lack of detail and clarity in document drafting is seen as a common cause for disputes.
One reason that many ICT contracts are not comprehensively drafted may be that a surprising number of respondents were unaware of any legal advice that they had received on dispute resolution clauses. The report suggested that this was because the client did not know to ask about dispute resolution and the adviser did not actively make recommendations. This finding, along with other data collected in the survey, resulted in the conclusion that more education is required to raise awareness of ADR techniques and the necessity of appropriate dispute resolution clauses.
For more information on the results of the survey, contact IAMA: www.iama.org.au.
Source: Blake Dawson Waldron Lawyers