Arbitration - A Viable Alternative for Dispute Resolution | Gregg Bertram. Arbitrator Seattle

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• published: 06 Nov 2013
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http://bertramadr.com I'm Gregg Bertram of Bertram Dispute Resolution, Inc., a mediator and arbitrator based in Seattle, Washington. I'm a full time mediator and arbitrator. Today, I'm talking about arbitration, the second most popular form of alternative dispute resolution to mediation. The only real similarity that arbitration has to mediation is its privacy or confidentiality. While that isn't guaranteed, most commercial arbitration rules provide for confidentiality. Otherwise, it's very different. It much more resembles trial in a more private setting. Testimony is taken under oath. There are evidentiary rules. The parties have some latitude to agree on those rules, but it is a much more structured, formal and usually binding process than mediation. Whether arbitration is preferable to trial, often depends on the subject matter of the dispute. The parties get to choose the arbitrator, and when they decide to arbitrate, or when they contractually are obligated to arbitrate, they have the opportunity to choose a decision maker or decision makers who have subject matter expertise in the nature of the dispute. There's no guarantee that a judge will have any subject matter expertise in any dispute that comes before him or her in court. It can also be preferable and possible to resolve a dispute much sooner via arbitration than court. That may depend on arbitration management, although timelines can and are sometimes imposed in arbitration agreements themselves. In other words, this dispute will be arbitrated within 30 or 60 days, for example, by contract. Those provisions can be included in pre-dispute arbitration agreements or in post-dispute arbitration agreements that are sort of custom designed by the attorneys for the parties. Arbitration receives a lot of criticism online and in the literature for simply mirroring the inefficiencies of the civil justice system. To avoid that, to make arbitration efficient, requires management and much of that management has to flow from the arbitrator or arbitrators. Often attorneys and their clients are incapable of efficient case management, so it has to be imposed from the top down. Experienced arbitrators know how to do it. They usually have rules. The American Arbitration Association and JAMS are two organizations that have developed and revised arbitration rules for decades. the Federal Arbitration Act is another. These rules empower arbitrators to control the process. While I've mediated thousands of cases, I've arbitrated several hundred. And the several hundred are not several hundred of the same kind of case. I've acted alone; I've acted as a member of arbitration panels in business, real estate, employment, maritime, personal injury, professional negligence disputes. I've also received a great deal of high quality arbitration training from both JAMS and the American Arbitration Association. The totality of these experiences have helped me become, I believe, an able arbitrator. At the same time, with arbitration, there's necessarily a winner and a loser. And in any given case, the loser is usually quite displeased, usually at some financial cost, and they are not likely to bestow accolades upon the arbitrator. I'm no exception, but that is what being a "neutral" is all about. Making the best decisions based upon the evidence in a non-biased manner. When you need arbitration on a difficult case, please contact us. Bertram Dispute Resolution, Inc. 316 Occidental Avenue South, Suite 500 Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 624-3388 Qualifications of Gregg Bertram: Gregg Bertram has resolved thousands of cases in 22 years as one of the Pacific Northwest's most recognized mediators and arbitrators. From 2000 to 2008 Gregg was a principal at JAMS, the nationwide provider of alternative dispute resolution services, and before that was affiliated with Washington Arbitration and Mediation Services, where he earned the "Master Mediator" designation. Prior to full-time ADR practice, Gregg was a practicing attorney. Gregg is a board member of the Federal Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, and is an American Arbitration Association mediator and Arbitrator. He is also an accredited neutral of the World Intellectual Property Organization and International Center of Dispute Resolution. Gregg is past chair of the ADR committee of the Washington State Bar Association. He has been recognized as a "Super Lawyer"® for ten consecutive years in Washington Law & Politics magazine, and has received repeated recognition in Seattle Magazine peer surveys as a "Top Lawyer."