Arbitration
Professor Odenwald15 July 2014
Arbitration
Disputes pertaining to business activities are unavoidable and a popular method of mediating those disputes is arbitration. What the United States Supreme Court once shunned has become a popular vehicle for resolving disputes that pertain to a plethora of matters, from contract disputes involving labor relations to international disputes between multinational corporations.
Arbitration, in its most basic form, is a form of mediation between two parties that have a dispute, often involving contracts. Not only does arbitration allow individuals and businesses to settle disagreements, it does so outside of the courtroom, alleviating the courtroom of traffic, thereby allowing time and resources for more pertinent cases. Often time’s parties in the midst of a dispute long for ‘their day in court’ but an increasing number of businesses have chosen to focus the matter in arbitration. The two parties have a hand in picking the mediator, a trained professional, and that mediator ultimately decides the outcome and, if applicable, the award. While the process of deciding on the arbitrator can be lengthy, it is intended to result in an unbiased third party impartial to either side.
Arbitration differs from mediation in that the third party decides the fate of the case and the result is a binding agreement and is upheld in U.S. court systems. In fact, there are almost zero opportunities to appeal a ruling or award made in arbitration due to the Uniform Arbitration Act, which makes covenants to arbitrate and verdicts enforceable in court. Consideration is specifically limited to determining if the dispute should have been arbitrable in the first place.
Using the form of dispute resolution has been used in the United States for over a hundred years and is gaining popularity worldwide, especially in the business environment. According to Andrew Pincus, of The New York Times, companies are progressively
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