If an insurance dispute arises, a claimant may immediately threaten to take your company to court to force you into a settlement. Not only can this be costly and time-consuming, it is also likely to lead to bad publicity. At Fowler Bell PLLC, our legal team often counsels insurance carriers on the benefits of an arbitration clause.
As with any method of dealing with a dispute, arbitration has its benefits and its downfalls. FindLaw offers these factors for you to consider before you decide to require this dispute resolution method in your contracts:
Arbitrators may be more effective than judges and juries
Instead of having a single judge or a panel of jurors, the people who are overseeing your dispute are impartial professionals. Typically, you choose one arbitrator, the other party chooses one, and then those two choose a third. Having three experts oversee your case increases the chances of a fair and practical resolution. On the other hand, if there are multiple parties involved in the dispute, choosing arbitrators may become much more complicated.
The process may be less costly than litigation
When a party takes you to court, attorney fees, court costs and a lengthy investigation and discovery process may lead to many ongoing expenses. Some of these may be eliminated entirely, and others reduced significantly, by arbitration protocol and a speedier dispute resolution. Once arbitration is completed, you do not have to worry about the other party dragging the dispute out further by appealing the decision or suing you in court. The results are legally binding. However, if the results are not in your favor, you probably will also not have further recourse.
More information about alternative dispute resolution methods is available on our webpage.
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