Thursday, March 20, 2014

FINALITY

One of the most attractive features of arbitration as compared to litigation & courtroom trials is the finality of it.  When an award is issued by the arbitrator(s), it can only be challenged under extraordinary circumstances.

There are instances where an award can be effectively challenged in court.  But it isn't simply because one of the parties didn't like the result.  Among other reasons, it can be something like an undisclosed conflict of interest on the part of one of the arbitrators, or a refusal to hear a piece of evidence that proved to be important.

This avoidance of an appeals process naturally can save significant amounts of money and time.  Another advantage to the parties is that they can get back to their business instead of focusing so much time and resources on non-productive legal activity.



On the other hand, some litigants might not want to arbitrate, just because it is final.  But given the sure end point in sight with arbitration, win or lose, it is hard to see the benefit in litigation because of the significant cost in legal fees, expert fees, evidence collection costs and disruption of their business.

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