Originally from:

AAA Handbook on Arbitration Practice - Second Edition

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CHAPTER 6

YOU CONTROL THE PROCESS V. THE PROCESS
CONTROLS YOU

John Arrastia, Jr.

I. Introduction

What trial lawyer would not want to be able to select the judge hearing
the case? Arbitration allows the parties to determine the arbitrator’s
background. Unlike litigation, it gives them choices and flexibility to
design a process to fit their needs.

The advantages of a properly structured and well-managed
arbitration are especially valuable today. With clients insisting on more
manageable litigation budgets and the courts clogged with the fallout
from a struggling economy, efficiency and reduced overall costs are
becoming the polestars of healthy client relations.

Arbitration is intended to be quicker, less expensive, and more
efficient than litigation. But many litigators complain that the process has
become cumbersome and expensive. This happens when trial attorneys
treat the arbitration process as they would federal or state court litigation.
Why? One explanation is that they are taught to litigate using the court’s
rules of procedure and evidence, and when faced with the less structured
and less familiar arbitration process, they naturally turn to what they
know and thus, try to incorporate the rules and procedures of court into
the arbitration process. This transforms arbitration into a mirror image of
court litigation, with the attendant expense and delay.

Trial attorneys can satisfy their clients’ desires to economize on
dispute resolution by understanding the differences between arbitration