Five Questions: Aaron D. Jones

Aaron D. Jones, attorney and mediator at Hulston, Jones & Marsh, has been practicing law at the Springfield firm since he received his juris doctor from the University of Missouri School of Law in 1998. While mostly dealing in business and employment law, he also works on personal injury, workers' compensation, wills and trusts. During the past three years, he returned to MU as a part-time student in the law school's alternative dispute resolution program. This year, he earned his Master of Laws in ADR.

Q: What is ADR and how have you applied it in your practice?

A: In the traditional sense, ADR is an alternative to the traditional legal court system. Ideally, ADR will provide a way for the parties to either avoid that system altogether or at least to minimize the amount of time and money that is spent by the parties. ... For one client, I helped set up a grievance procedure so that employees are provided with a clearly outlined process for a problem they may be having at work. If there is any kind of improper activity that they believe is going on at work, and that problem can't be solved at their immediate workplace level, it gives them an avenue to go to someone at a central office of the company. ... If that does not provide a satisfactory resolution, then there are other steps that give an employee the ability to file a grievance and a request for arbitration. When that occurs, it gives both parties input on who that arbitrator will be.

Q: Why did you earn a master's degree in ADR?

A: Mizzou has one of the top three programs in the nation. I had attended law school there and was familiar with the reputation of its dispute resolution faculty. I also thought that receiving the training would help me to become a better advocate for my clients in mediations, as well as give me some training to actually work as a mediator.

Q: How has the application of ADR grown?

A: There are a number of new forms of ADR that are developing. One is called early neutral evaluation, or ENE. That's interesting because the parties will do a miniature trial or a summary trial of their issues with a neutral third party who then will try to help parties identify their strengths and weaknesses.

Q: When would a business use ADR?

A: A lot of times, contracts are now being written with arbitration clauses. It's not uncommon at all that a business dispute that winds up in the court system or that is heading that way would go through some type of mediation in hopes of resolving it before the parties spend too much time and money in going down the traditional litigation avenue.

Q: Speaking of resolutions, what is one thing your co-workers or friends would say you need to resolve?

A: Probably a new challenge, which is balancing work and community obligations with my new family. My wife, Cara, and I got married on July 23. I think of myself as the luckiest guy in the world because of my wife, and the two children (Kate, 8, and Carter, 5) who have become part of my family. I'm used to planning out my career and community goals based on timeline and schedule of a single guy. All in all, I think that's a great challenge to have.[[In-content Ad]]