We live in an age where we can buy and sell almost anything online and arbitrate our problems through email, phone calls, and even video chats. Technology has completely transformed the way we do business, but it’s also had an impact on the way we solve disputes. Rather than going to court, many companies have started using arbitration to settle legal matters related to their businesses.
In this article, our Miami business attorney, Santiago Cueto, explains some of the benefits of arbitration over litigation that you should know if you’re thinking about bringing any kind of legal action against someone.
With that said, here are 4 Benefits of Arbitration Over Litigation for Miami Businesses
1. Swift Settlement
When two parties are unable to resolve a dispute, arbitration may be the best route. In arbitration, instead of going through litigation and a formal court trial, an arbitrator hears the case from both sides and hands down a binding decision. That decision can be either voluntary or imposed by law. The business lawyers will provide swift settlement options with minimal expense, less stress, greater control over how disputes are handled, and protection from conflicts in the judicial system. Whether you need to quickly resolve disputes between business partners or with outside parties in order to avoid potential litigation or costly legal fees and out-of-court settlements, arbitration may be your answer.
- Confidentiality
Arbitration is a private process. You can also keep the contents of your arbitration completely confidential. Even though public courts are available, arbitration typically requires that both parties go into the process agreeing to have their disputes resolved confidentially and take steps to do so. If there’s one thing we would caution, it’s that with confidentiality comes responsibility. When you sign an agreement to arbitrate in a particular way, if you don’t abide by the agreement and make certain not to share any sensitive information with anyone outside of what is legally required, then this could cause problems for you in your case because now others will know about it and will expect disclosure as well.
- Final, Binding Judgment
Arbitration offers a cheaper, more expedient process with a final binding judgment. This means the arbitrator’s decision will be the one that stands and cannot be appealed. In arbitration, the costs are much lower because the fees to cover lawyers and witnesses are shared among all parties in agreement to go to arbitration instead of court. There is also a lower burden on finding people who can testify or testify from memory due to the relatively limited scope of discovery materials as well as no punitive damages for Miami businesses going through arbitration versus litigation.
- Cost Effective
While litigation can be an effective way to resolve legal disputes, it often ends up being more costly and time-consuming than arbitration. Miami business attorneys recommend the arbitration process in many cases, as it can streamline the resolution process and avoid prolonged court battles. The beauty of arbitration is that you work with a mutually agreed upon third party to come up with a binding decision instead of with a jury or judge. An arbitrator also has the ability to be flexible about some proceedings such as discovery and deadlines because they are not bound by strict court rules.
Miami business lawyers, Cueto Law Group, love helping their clients arbitrate their disputes so you know they’ll go out of their way to make sure you don’t have any unresolved issues once everything is said and done.