Smart business owners realize that avoiding litigation is almost always a good business move. Litigation can be extremely expensive, emotionally draining and can take a long time. In most cases, this energy is better spent toward improving your business.
This is why alternative dispute resolution is so popular. The two major varieties of alternative dispute resolution are mediation and arbitration. According to FindLaw, in the majority of instances, mediation is a non-binding solution whereas arbitration is a binding solution to contract and other business-related disputes.
What is mediation?
Mediation is a guided conversation about the dispute at hand. Mediation is helpful because a trained mediator can help feuding parties resolve their disputes through constructive conversation. a mediated dispute may or may not involve the parties having personal lawyers: it depends on the nature of the dispute and the desires of the parties.
Mediation is typically non-binding. This means that if either of the parties is unhappy with the result of mediation, they still have the right to take the issue to court.
What is arbitration?
Arbitration is more similar to litigation. Typically, an arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators that both parties mutually agree upon the act as “judges” in the “case.” It is more common for the feuding parties to have personal representation in arbitrated disputes as compared to mediated ones.
Arbitration is typically binding. This means that if one party is unhappy with the result of arbitration, there often is no easy recourse or “appeals” afterward. In fact, in some instances, it can be more difficult to overturn the decision of arbitrators as compared to that of a judge.