Everyone knows that litigation is time consuming, costly, and depending on what side you’re on, possibly damaging to your reputation. Litigation is also public, which may not be to your or your company’s advantage. For sensitive disputes where discretion is important, arbitration can be the preferred path. Arbitration is privately adjudicated by an impartial, expert third party, and the decision is typically legally binding.
Key Benefit 1: Speed and Efficiency
Public court dockets can be overcrowded, meaning it can take years for cases to progress to trial. Motions, continuances, and court scheduling delays can stall a case. Alternatively, arbitration offers a streamlined, cost-effective, and private alternative that allows both parties to resolve conflicts and move forward faster.
During arbitration, both parties can set their own timeline rather than wait for a judge to have an opening in the calendar. Streamlined discovery rules eliminate months of back-and-forth document requests and depositions. All of this combines to drop the average resolution timeline from years to a matter of months.
Key Benefit 2: Cost Control
Litigation is a drain on a company’s resources because it drives up billable hours, court filing fees, expert witness costs, and pre-trial procedure expenditures. Alternatively, arbitration cuts down those costs with shorter case lifespans which translates to lower total legal fees. Limited pre-trial discovery also cuts down procedural costs.
Arbitrators do charge fees, but the total cost overall is often lower than what you would incur during a typical legal process.
Key Benefit 3: Privacy and Confidentiality
Court filings, transcripts, and evidence are all public records during litigation and thus accessible to competitors, media, and the public. Arbitration, on the other hand, occurs behind closed doors. This protects any sensitive information while ultimately protecting your company’s overall brand reputation by keeping high-stakes disputes out of the headlines.
Key Benefit 4: Expertise and Control Over the Decision-Maker
Litigation is uncertain and you’re never guaranteed how a judge or jury will find your case. Juries may lack the complex industry-specific knowledge that relates to your case.
Arbitrators can be much more precise and knowledgeable. In arbitration, both parties jointly select an arbitrator with relevant industry experience and subject matter expertise. Decisions may be made by someone who understands the nuances involved in the case.
See: Before You Sue: Stopping a Business Dispute From Escalating
Binding arbitration decisions are also final, with very limited avenues for appeal, preventing what can be seemingly endless cycles of litigation. Arbitration brings true closure so that businesses can resolve a dispute, hopefully salvage a relationship, and then immediately move forward.
Snow Atkinson Griess, LLC has a team of expert business attorneys who can analyze your case and advise you on the best path forward. If it’s possible to avoid litigation, we will do our best to help you find alternative dispute methods that will be more efficient and better suit your business. And if litigation is unavoidable, we have the experience to guide you and defend your interests from start to finish.