On 22 May 2026, Roman Butenko, Dispute Resolution Practice Partner at Stonebridge Legal, took part in a discussion on ‘Conflict management tools in project work: adjudication, arbitration and hybrid solutions’, organised by Russian Arbitration Centre.
Between 2025 and 2026, the complexity of IT projects, the pace of development and the cost of errors are all on the rise. Traditional dispute resolution mechanisms are failing to keep pace with these developments. Businesses need swift and manageable tools that ensure the project remains operational.
Participants in the discussion addressed the dynamics of IT and IP disputes, common categories of conflict, critical points of disagreement at various project stages, the reasons for the ineffectiveness of traditional mechanisms, the most effective tools (arbitration, adjudication, mediation and hybrid approaches), and likely dispute scenarios for the coming years.
As the author of what is currently the only fundamental academic work on adjudication, Roman Butenko spoke about the history of the emergence and development of adjudication as a dispute resolution tool, and also reflected on the prospects for its application in Russia to resolve IT and IP disputes. According to Roman, adjudication certainly offers the parties to a long-term, complex contract a number of significant advantages, enabling them to maintain the pace of their collaboration, sustain the contractor’s cash flow and, in part as a result, avoid the project being put on hold during lengthy court or arbitration proceedings.
Read more about the event on the Russian Arbitration Centre website.