{"id":888383,"date":"2016-04-26T16:55:55","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T22:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=888383"},"modified":"2016-04-26T16:55:55","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T22:55:55","slug":"to-arbitrate-or-not-to-arbitrate-that-is-the-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/to-arbitrate-or-not-to-arbitrate-that-is-the-question\/","title":{"rendered":"To Arbitrate or Not to Arbitrate? That is the Question"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Garret Murai | California Construction Law Blog | April 25, 2016<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been the fodder\u00a0of debate of\u00a0philosophers, academics and the rest of us for ages:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do we have free will or are our actions predetermined and the\u00a0result of preceding events?<\/li>\n<li>Are human beings fundamentally selfless or self preserving?<\/li>\n<li>Coca-Cola or Pepsi?<\/li>\n<li>iOs or android?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And for litigators and their clients, including us construction lawyers, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/to-be-or-not-to-be-in-arbitration-that-is-the-question\/\" target=\"_blank\">arbitration or litigation<\/a>? Or, in short,\u00a0if a project goes sideways, in what forum will you resolve your dispute?\u00a0It\u2019s an important question the answer to\u00a0which\u00a0<i>could <\/i>mean the difference between winning or losing.<\/p>\n<p>The other\u00a0week I stumbled across an\u00a0informative article on JD Supra written by\u00a0David Taylor a construction lawyer with\u00a0Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP\u00a0in Nashville, Tennessee in which he discussed the pros and cons of arbitration and litigation with a focus on\u00a0construction disputes entitled\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/arbitration-vs-litigation-the-great-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\">Arbitration vs. Litigation: The Great Debate<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>According to Mr. Taylor:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Many of the \u201cform\u201d commercial construction contracts (<em>e.g.<\/em>, AIA forms) contain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/aia-contract-dispute-resolution-choices-mean\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cdispute resolution\u201d clauses <\/a>proposing binding arbitration as opposed to courtroom litigation. Most U.S. courts, faced with the number of cases flooding the legal system, regularly enforce arbitration clauses. However, the decision to arbitrate should not be taken lightly. There are pros and cons, and one size does not fit all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Mr. Taylor ultimately sides in favor of\u00a0arbitration pointing out that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Courtroom litigation is expensive and time-consuming;<\/li>\n<li>Court filings are public records;<\/li>\n<li>Lawsuits can take years to get to trial; and<\/li>\n<li>There is no way to guarantee what a judge or jury may do in a civil case.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Unlike litigation, he explains, arbitration is preferable because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cIdeally, an arbitration is heard by a third-party neutral with experience and knowledge in the area of dispute\u201d;<\/li>\n<li>\u201c[T]here is no crowded court docket\u201d and \u201cthere are fewer and more restrictive grounds for appealing an arbitration award, so finality is the rule rather than the exception\u201d;<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIn most cases, the costs and expenses of arbitration are less than litigation;\u201d and<\/li>\n<li>\u201cUnlike courtroom litigation, arbitration is private and confidential.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All great points, and an article well worth reading if you\u2019re considering whether to include\u00a0that arbitration clause in your construction contract or deciding whether to opt for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/the-camels-nose-incorporating-commercial-and-construction-arbitration-rules\/\" target=\"_blank\">arbitration or litigation<\/a> if your contract gives you that option.<\/p>\n<p>As for me though, I\u2019m not so sure. While arbitration has been heralded as better, faster and cheaper, I\u2019m not sure it has delivered on that promise, except in my experience for smaller cases in which fast-track rules apply. That\u2019s because:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>For larger cases, I\u2019ve found that arbitration is not necessarily faster or cheaper, in part, because you are paying the arbitrator for his time unlike a court judge.<\/li>\n<li>As Mr. Taylor points out in his article there are more restrictive discovery rules in arbitration, but this also means that you <em>may<\/em> have more difficulty obtaining necessary evidence, which <em>could<\/em> mean more uncertainty, or worse, a less fair result.<\/li>\n<li>Opportunities for parties to settle \u2013 either through mandatory court-ordered settlement conferences (which are not required in arbitration as they are in many courts) or through voluntary out-of-court mediation (which just doesn\u2019t seem to happen as much\u00a0in arbitration) \u2013 is less likely in arbitration.<\/li>\n<li>As Mr. Taylor also points out there are more limited appeal rights in arbitration \u2013 and, I would also point out, generally looser standards of evidence and no trial by jury \u2013 which means that your fate is in the hands of an arbitrator (or, in some cases, arbitrator<strong>s<\/strong>) rather than a jury of your peers and before an arbitrator who may feel less compelled to strictly follow the dictates of the law since there is less likelihood of a subsequent appeal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So there you have it, the great <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/arbitration-vs-litigation-5-issues-to-consider\/\" target=\"_blank\">arbitration versus litigation<\/a> debate. And it\u2019s a debate&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/calconstructionlawblog.com\/2016\/04\/25\/to-arbitrate-or-not-to-arbitrate-that-is-the-question\/\" target=\"_blank\">To finish reading this article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Garret Murai | California Construction Law Blog | April 25, 2016 It\u2019s been the fodder\u00a0of debate of\u00a0philosophers, academics and the rest of us for ages: Do we have free will or are our actions predetermined and the\u00a0result of preceding events? Are human beings fundamentally selfless or self preserving? Coca-Cola or Pepsi? iOs or android? And&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/to-arbitrate-or-not-to-arbitrate-that-is-the-question\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">To Arbitrate or Not to Arbitrate? That is the Question<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[41],"tags":[42,78],"class_list":["post-888383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arbitration","tag-arbitration-2","tag-litigation","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>To Arbitrate or Not to Arbitrate? 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