ODACC and the Four Little Processes

told by Gerald R. (Jerry) Genge, Adjudicator

Gather -round and listen to my story.

There was once a carpenter who framed a big house for a man. The man was unhappy with the work and didn't pay. The carpenter said he would get his money through the ODACC - Authority Adjudication process, so he presented a Notice of Adjudication saying he wanted to use Process 1 which cost $800. He would submit 30 pages of story and lots of pictures showing how his work was wonderful and that he should be paid $150,000. The man replied to the Notice of Adjudication saying that the work was very bad; he had to pay someone else to fix it; and the builder was owed nothing. The man said that he would show the bad work through pictures and story, how the work was not what he wanted, and how he had to pay more to fix the bad work. He said he would use ODACC's pre-designed Process 2, which cost $1,000 because he had more pictures and a longer story that could take maybe 40 pages. (Sound familiar? - it's a common story)...

They didn't agree on who should adjudicate the claim so ODACC appointed an adjudicator. The adjudicator sighed when he read the notice and reply. He thought, "They don't understand how this works. I have to have a meeting with these two to work through the process and fee for the adjudication." So, a video call was arranged and, despite the adjudicator's attempt to say the call was only about establishing the process, fee, and schedule, after an hour of the carpenter and the man arguing their story, they finally agreed that neither Process 1 nor Process 2 gave them enough pages for words and pictures to make their case. So, they looked at Process 3, which allowed the carpenter and the man up to 15 pages and cost a whopping $2,000 and each said it was too much. The adjudicator said, "don't let the adjudication fee scare you, the cost would be split between you unless I decide otherwise - which is not usual." So, they looked at Process 4, which allowed 35 pages of story and pictures and had a fee of $3,000. They grudgingly agreed that would be fine but they wanted the Adjudicator to visit the site to see why they each believed they were right and to listen to their friends talk about why they were right.

Again, with an audible sigh, the adjudicator said, "those four predesigned processes are available for small, simple claims where you don't need me to make a site visit and are not going to bring in witnesses to say how you are right. If you still want all that, we have to design a custom process that everyone is happy with or I cannot be your adjudicator and you will have to start all over again or we will have to ask ODACC to decide how much the fee will be and that could be a lot of money which would be billed on an hourly basis."

So, the carpenter, the man, and the adjudicator continued to talk and agreed that none of the four little pre-designed processes could give them what they wanted and that a custom process was probably best. They also decided because the adjudicator was very experienced in looking at building framing and could see for himself that they really didn't have to have witnesses. They agreed on a flat fee and a date for the site visit and told ODACC that they were happy that the fee and adjudication process would be okay. They each paid their part of the adjudication fee and, in the end, the adjudicator wrote a fair and thorough determination.

The lesson in this fable is that the four little predesigned processes may not work for you. ODACC Adjudication using any of the four predesigned processes is ideal for smallish and simple claims. Many are not that simple. Each case has a life of its own and each party to the case firmly believes in their right and ability to convince an adjudicator that they are right - often with a flood of evidence. Sometimes one side has a few simple pages and the other side has volumes of documentation. Regardless, you should trust in your adjudicator's advice on how to set up the process, fee, and schedule to get the best result possible. This is what adjudicators do.

Gerald (Jerry) Genge is an ODACC Adjudicator, Engineer, Arbitrator and Mediator.