At a time when there was a perceived civil justice crisis, The Modern Law Review of May 1993 published an article written by Simon Roberts in which he reasserted the importance of party control over dispute processes and their professional management, and between negotiated outcomes and imposed decisions. The article presented here revisits Roberts’s view that the strained relationship between civil justice and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) (particularly mediation) could be mitigated by introducing three models designed to encourage extrajudicial dispute resolution. The author reassesses the relationship between ADR and civil justice, and the extent to which Roberts’s models have been incorporated is evaluated. To understand how civil justice reform in England and Wales has and will affect the way in which those who use the civil justice system engage with it, this article provides an analysis of the developing relationship between ADR and the civil justice system and suggests its future direction.