Choosing a Dispute Resolution Forum: Litigation Arbitration and Mediation Compared

36 questions on choosing a dispute resolution forum, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are all employment contracts covered by the Federal Arbitration Act?
• Can you appeal an arbitration award?
• Does “manifest disregard of the law” still allow a court to vacate an award?
• How does discovery in arbitration compare to litigation?
• How do the major U.S. arbitration administrators differ?
• How have arbitration administrators responded to mass arbitration?
• How should a company with millions of consumers design its arbitration program?
• How should a party choose between litigation, arbitration, and mediation?
• Is arbitration cheaper than litigation?
• Is arbitration confidential?
• Is arbitration faster than litigation?
• Is expert determination the same as arbitration?
• Is mediation confidential?
• Is there any way to build appellate review into an arbitration?
• What are the other ADR processes besides arbitration and mediation?
• What forum best preserves an ongoing business relationship?
• What happens to a court case when a party successfully compels arbitration?
• What is an escalation or tiered dispute-resolution clause?
• What is a pathological arbitration clause?
• What is mass arbitration, and why should companies worry about it?
• What is med-arb, and is it safe?
• What is the bottom-line trade-off among the three forums?
• What is the difference between arbitration and mediation?
• What is the difference between negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and litigation?
• What is the EFAA, and how does it affect arbitration agreements?
• What is the “seat” of an arbitration, and why does it matter?
• What rule differences between arbitration providers actually matter?
• What should an arbitration clause contain?
• When does arbitration fit a cross-border commercial deal?
• When does mediation confidentiality fail?
• Which institutions administer international arbitrations?
• Who decides whether a dispute is arbitrable — a court or the arbitrator?
• Why does mediation belong in nearly every dispute-resolution strategy?
• Why does nearly every consumer and employment contract require individual arbitration?
• Why does the choice of dispute-resolution forum matter so much?
• Why do international contracts almost always choose arbitration?