With all due respect kfordahl, if you are making a specific recommendation, you should identify whether you have an interest in any of the providers you mention. While I would not want to jump to a conclusion on the basis of a username, it might be reasonable for others to assume that you do not have a connection with any of the organizations mentioned in your post. To the extent that inference is reasonable and incorrect, it would be your duty to correct that mistaken impression.
In most states, it is considered unethical for an attorney to make a referral to a business in which the attorney has an interest, without disclosure of the attorney's interest therein. I will leave it up to you to make a determination as to whether you might clarify who you are here.
The question is:
What is the best option and what can be done to have the domain transfered?
Filing a UDRP complaint may, or may not, be your friend's "best" option. Many attorneys will consult with your friend on an unpaid basis to make a preliminary determination of what, among several options, may be available. Running off to pay the NAF a non-refundable fee of $1300 on a do-it-yourself basis, when a representative of the NAF recently stated in public that as many as 95% of complaint filings there are initially deemed non-compliant, may or may not be the "best option". As recently as last month, for example, there was a situation in which someone had self-filed a complaint without knowing that the NAF would provide a five-day deadline for correcting errors in the complaint. He had paid his fee and gone off on a business trip without checking his email. He came back to find his complaint dismissed and his non-refundable fee taken.
Without full consideration of the facts, it may well be that such filing could trigger pre-emptive declaratory or other action against your friend.
If your friend is located in the United States, there may be any number of competent attorneys in your friend's state. As a general rule, I do not accept engagements on the basis of forum threads on which I have commented (such as this one at this point).
Concerning the statement of NAF fees above, you should also know the following information for comparing WIPO and NAF.
At WIPO, if you and the respondent resolve the dispute prior to panelist appointment, you will get a refund of $1,000. At NAF, you will not receive a refund. At WIPO, if you desire to file additional comments to rebut the Response, there is no fee. At NAF, you will be charged $400.
Accordingly, comparing the initial filing fee for NAF and WIPO does not accurately convey what your total cost may be, and it might be deceptive if, for example, a representative of the NAF were to advertise their services solely on that basis.
Another piece of information which has recently come to light is that the UDRP rules require that the panel shall determine the outcome on the basis of the complaint and the response. At the NAF, an additional document is produced by the NAF and sent to the panel without either party being made aware of its contents. While a judge, for example, might engage his or her own clerks to produce memoranda on a case before the judge, the situation at the NAF - with NAF staff not selected by the panelists preparing case memoranda - is markedly different from a normal judicial clerk arrangement. Hence, if you want your case to be determined by the panel on the basis of the documents submitted by the parties, without having the dispute resolution provider organization opine on the matter, then you should clearly avoid the NAF.
