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Arbitration and Mediation

An Overview of Alternatives to Traditional Litigation

While arbitrations vary in style and complexity, they traditionally offer considerable benefits over litigation.  In general, arbitrations are:

• Less costly
• Faster
• More flexible procedurally and substantively
• Private proceedings with confidential results
• These benefits are heightened with an arbitrator or arbitration panel with expertise in the subject matter being arbitrated e.g., insurance and reinsurance.

The mediation process provides the same benefits as arbitration but to a heightened degree.  For instance, mediation generally is far less costly even than arbitration for several reasons, including the absence of discovery.  Mediation, however, provides some additional benefits over arbitration:

• Generally, mediation is non-binding
• The objective is to facilitate an agreement of the parties
• No result is imposed on a disagreeing party
• There is more involvement of the parties in fashioning a remedy
• Ongoing relationships are more likely to be preserved
• There is an early focus on issues and remedies before considerable legal expenses are incurred and positions harden .

Mediation is particularly appropriate for disputes between insurers and reinsurers where there exists considerable opportunities for compromise on a commercial basis. Debra Hall has undergone professional training in mediation from the highly recognized Pepperdine University Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution, has taught mediation techniques and is an active arbitrator.

 

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