I was touting the benefits of the arbitration process to a client one day. I stated it was the best way to settle a construction dispute. The decisions were from knowledgeable arbitrators, it was faster than court and it was less expensive than going to court.
Did I get an earful!
He figured they spent more time, thirty percent more money and received no benefit over going to court. One of the questions I then asked was, “What did you do to manage the process?” The answer was, “Nothing, our attorneys ran the process.”
As the party in the dispute, you should help select the arbitrators from the Panel of Neutrals for your dispute. I highly recommend there be at least one construction professional on the panel.
In an arbitration setting, it is imperative the “Client” participate in the proceedings, not just the attorneys. Make sure the proceeding advance on a time line according to your needs, not the needs of your attorney. Do this by participating in the scheduling conferences that are held during the overall process. There are few attorneys that will request a delay in the proceedings with the client participating in the scheduling of milestones.
Make sure you keep your attorney’s focus on the issue. Attorneys tend to try to obtain every last bit of information in broad reaching discovery requests. They tend to retain experts to reinforce what other experts may say. As the client you can help control the number of experts and the amount of discovery that the attorneys use during the process. Multiple experts and extensive discovery requests not only drive up the cost of the arbitration, they increase the time required to settle the dispute.
Agree with the other side to limit the number of depositions that will taken by each party. If your dispute involves project specific problems, keep the depositions focused to project personnel with knowledge of the problems and events.
The arbitration process is far less formal and restrictive than being in court. In the court setting the client sits, watches and may testify as the attorneys present the case to the judge and/or the jury. The purpose of arbitration is to get an informed decision, in a prompt effective manner with the client involved in the process. If you want to keep the arbitration of your dispute this way, you must participate in the process.
