Online Dispute Resolution

About 99% of cases filed in court are resolved without a trial, and many people go to the courthouse to reach a settlement on the date of a hearing or trial. Online Dispute Resolution allows you the flexibility to try to settle your matter on your own time, quickly and easily online, all without going to court.

Currently, there is no cost to use ODR. The service is supported by the Indiana Supreme Court.

The person starting a case enters some identifying information, just like you do in many other web-based sites. The platform notifies the other party that you are willing to negotiate an outcome, and that person can either directly respond to you through the platform. While most cases do settle, if you don’t reach an agreement, both parties are free to pursue their other legal options.

If you are reading this online, you already have everything you’ll need to resolve your dispute. ODR works just as well on any mobile device that can access the internet. Just go to the site on your device's web browser to access it just like you would on a desktop or laptop computer.

You first need to be logged in to the ODR platform in order to access your conversation space. Once logged in, you will see three tabs. One of them will be labeled Conversations Space. Click on the Conversations Space Tab and it will place you in the conversations space where you can engage with the other party.

It’s always helpful to think through terms that might be important in carrying out your agreement. Here are some terms that you might consider:

• General terms: address “who, what, when, where, and how” considerations.
• Future terms: if you’re interacting with each other in the future, how will you do that?
• Monetary terms: when, how, and to whom payments will be made?
• Future dispute resolution: what will you do if you have another dispute?
• Confidentiality: Is this agreement confidential? With whom can you talk about it?
• If there’s a pending court case, who will dismiss the lawsuit or file a consent judgment, and when?
• Any other terms you’ve agreed to.

Signed agreements are considered binding contracts, so you should make sure that you are satisfied with your agreement before signing it. It is possible that the other party to the case may be willing to participate in negotiations again to discuss and possibly modify or change the terms of the agreement. However, participation is not required and entirely up to the other party if they want to continue negotiations. If you do change your mind, however, the court could ask the other party if it would be willing to participate in negotiation again to discuss and possibly change the terms of the agreement. It is completely up to the other party to decide if he/she wishes to negotiate again.