A group of leading barristers is about to launch the world's first virtual arbitration service.

Dispute Resolution by Barristers (DRB) is comprised of 50 barristers from the Oxford and Midlands circuit, largely made up of full-time, part-time and ex-judges who are all fully qualified arbitrators.

The group was formed to offer the kind of alternative dispute resolution service that will become common when the Woolf reforms come into place on April 26.

Inspired by 36 Bedford Row practice manager Peter Bennett, whose Leicester chambers serves
as DRB's headquarters, the group is looking to use e-commerce to offer more than a standard arbitration format.

DRB plans to use a new service to sell its dispute handling expertise to the online world.

The Internet Stock Exchange, which will be launched by BT, NatWest and Lotus in March, will set up a free market where participants can sell each other information NatWest is sponsoring DRB to offer online arbitrations as part of this information exchange.

"Anybody searching for arbitration services will come to a door saying 'here is a UK arbitration service, whose members are all qualified arbitrators and whose decisions are binding under the UK Arbitration Act,'" Bennett said.

"For further information you go through the door and pay $5 to see a scale of fees and a list of experts.

To set up a first time meeting you go through another door, and an e-mail is posted off to a chosen arbitrator.

"At this stage you can either follow the traditional route of setting up a face-to-face meeting or have an entirely Internet based arbitration."

If you choose to work via the Internet, the arbitrator will ask both parties to post all documents and submissions electronically.

A meeting can then take place within a closed chat room on the Internet if required.

All relevant documents will be available from the virtual library. The arbitrator's decision could be posted electronically within 24 hours.

"This offers massive time savings for big companies. The top men involved in disputes can deal with them from their desks," said Peter Ives, the NatWest business solutions guild manager responsible for setting up the service.

"We have heard a lot of talk about the future," Bennett said, "but now it is here. This is the future we've been promised."