News & Insights

There is a hole in our arbitral system. Despite being among the most efficient and prevalent means of resolving commercial disputes, and one generally favored by courts,3 arbitration is dangerously susceptible to the problem of nonpayment. Simply put, a respondent seeking to avoid liability may be able to “game” the system by refusing to pay its share of arbitration fees. All too frequently, this leaves the claimant without an effective remedy to hold the nonpaying respondent accountable. …

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A client has just asked you to represent it in the arbitration of a contract dispute. The case looks pretty much like others you have taken to bench or jury trial victories. You think you are all set. Think again. You would not try a jury trial as if it were a bench trial, or vice versa. Why assume that you should try a case in arbitration as if it were in court? …

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Arbitration is a field of study worthy of Hermann Rorschach. Parties who bring to it a preference for the formality and forensic opportunities of litigation see arbitration as the Wild West. Others, who prefer to resolve all business disputes quickly and informally, see it as just another form of litigation. Businesspeople who want to submit disputes to a business-oriented, neutral third party bound by rules that ensure basic fairness, but do not want all the bells and whistles of litigation, …

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