BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

LAGOS—A judge of the Lagos State High court, Justice Toyin Ipaye, yesterday blamed lawyers for the failure of the Alternative Dispute Resolution,ADR, in the state.

The judge, who was one of the facilitators at the ongoing legal education programme organised by the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Ikeja Branch, said rather than litigants denouncing the application of ADR mechanism to settle disputes, it was the lawyers that were resisting the system.

In her paper titled: “Exploring the mediation window at the Court of Appeal, Magistrates Court, High Court, Family Court, Criminal Court: Prospects,Challenges, Drawbacks,Efficacy”, Ipaye said it was high time for lawyers to embrace the alternative dispute windows.

The programme has as theme: ”Surmounting Professional Challenges through Continuous Legal Education”.

Discussing the topic, however said in most times, the lawyers can be absolved of the blame because they were mostly trained in litigation, the adversarial method of resolving disputes.