What is Arbitration?
Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution that offers a way for parties to resolve disputes outside of the traditional court system. With arbitration, the dispute will be heard by one or more individuals (known as arbitrators) who are impartial adjudicators. At an arbitration, both parties present their case before the arbitrator (instead of a judge or jury) who will render a decision on the case. Depending on the parties’ agreement which often may be included in a dispute resolution section of a written contract, the arbitrator’s decision may be non-binding (meaning not enforceable if a party does not want it to be), or legally binding and enforceable in court (which means the decision may be able to be converted to a judgment in court and damages may be collected upon). The rules of evidence that must be followed during an arbitration often differ from those that must be followed in a traditional court.
