Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)Today the United States is a happy country. Over the last fifty years the crime rate has increased. According to NationMaster.com, the United States ranks first in total crime with 23,677,800, far more than Germany in second place with 6,264,720. Total crime in this only includes rape, murder, assault, car theft. This information comes from the Seventh United Nations Crime Trends Survey, which covers the period from 1988 to 2000. We have been introduced to many new crimes resulting from the constant advancement of technology and more. There is a lot of white collar crime. "The Supreme Court's caseload has grown dramatically over time. During John Marshall's first term as chief justice, the Court issued only 15 opinions; in 1853 that number rose to 46, a paltry handful by today's standards. By 1853, the number of registered cases had grown significantly to 253, still small compared to the current over 7,500. So too had the caseload of the lower federal courts grown, to approximately 3,500 There were 270,000 cases pending in the nation's circuit and district courts in U.S. district courts and more than 50,000 in appellate courts." (Murphy 88) With all these cases filed and all these cases appealed, there are not enough judges or courts to handle all these cases. This is why we have created Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). ADR first arrived around the 1960s. Alternative dispute resolution simply refers to any way to resolve a legal problem without having to go to court. Alternative dispute resolutions (ADR) don't just deal with minor cases. The federal government also created an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Working Group, which is a branch of the Office of Dispute Resolution at the U.S. Department of Justice. Congress and the President established the Working Group to coordinate, promote, and facilitate the effective use of ADR in government, pursuant to the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996. (Cinciotta)The Administrative Dispute Solution Act (ADRA) of 1996 requires federal agencies to have policies addressing the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques and to appoint a dispute resolution specialist. For purposes of the statute, “alternative means of dispute resolution” include conciliation, mediation, facilitation, investigation, mini-trials and the use of “ombuds.” (Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996.) There are many different types of alternative dispute resolutions.