Supreme Court Certified Arbitrator in Palm Beach, Florida

Arbitration

Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution in which the dispute will be heard by a certified, neutral arbitrator or tribunal of neutral arbitrators. Arbitrators will hear evidence from all parties involved in a relatively informal hearing, and they will then make a binding decision to resolve the case. An arbitration award is legally binding on both sides and enforceable in the courts.

Arbitration can be either voluntary or mandatory (although mandatory arbitration can only come from a statute or from a contract that one party imposes on the other, in which the parties agree to hold all existing or future disputes to arbitration, without necessarily knowing, specifically, what disputes will ever occur) and can be either binding or non-binding. Non-binding arbitration final decision cannot be imposed on the parties. However, the principal distinction is that whereas a mediator will try to help the parties find a middle ground on which to compromise, the (non-binding) arbiter remains totally removed from the settlement process and will only give a determination of liability and, if appropriate, an indication of the quantum of damages payable.

Arbitration Advantages

Parties often seek to resolve disputes through arbitration because of a number of perceived potential advantages over judicial proceedings. Companies often require arbitration with their customers, but prefer the advantages of courts in disputes with competitors:

• In contrast to litigation, where one cannot "choose the judge", arbitration allows the parties to choose their own tribunal. This is especially useful when the subject matter of the dispute is highly technical: arbitrators with an appropriate degree of expertise (for example, quantity surveying expertise, in the case of a construction dispute, or expertise in commercial property law, in the case of a real estate dispute) can be chosen.

• Arbitration is often faster than litigation in court.

• Arbitral proceedings and an arbitral award are generally non-public and can be made confidential.

• In arbitral proceedings the language of arbitration may be chosen, whereas in judicial proceedings the official language of the country of the competent court will be automatically applied.

• Because of the provisions of the New York Convention 1958, arbitration awards are generally easier to enforce in other nations than court verdicts.

• In most legal systems there are very limited avenues for appeal of an arbitral award, which is sometimes an advantage because it limits the duration of the dispute and any associated liability.