Arbitration is a process where the parties select an “Arbitrator”. The Arbitrator, as a neutral, will hear evidence and argument by the parties and then render an “Arbitration Award” which is final and binding upon the parties. Arbitration Awards are similar to final orders of a Court of competent jurisdiction and may be enforced in a federal or state court if necessary (in virtually all arbitration proceedings, the parties promptly comply with the Arbitration Award). The Arbitration is conducted by a set of rules selected by the parties. Because of stream-lined proceedings for presenting evidence, an Arbitration proceeding has the advantages of speed, economy and privacy as compared to proceeding with a full blown case in Court. In Arbitrations where money damages are the issue, counsel and the parties may enter into a “high-low” or “maximum-minimum” agreement. This is an agreement where the parties agree that irrespective of the decision of the Arbitrator, one party will receive a minimum payment of a certain amount, and the other party will not be required to pay more than a certain amount. The Arbitrator is not informed of this agreement. If the Arbitration Award is between the “high-low” figure, the Arbitration Award is final. If the Arbitration Award is above the “high” or lower than the “low”, the award will be adjusted to reflect the parties’ pre-existing agreement and then be enforced as a Final Award. Arbitration can be used in virtually any civil case (other than matters such as child custody). In commercial disputes, Arbitration is a fast and cost effective way to resolve business disputes without the time, cost, and possible adverse publicity associated with lengthy court proceedings. Also, in Domestic Relation cases, Arbitration provides a means of the parties and their counsel resolving a number of matters in an equitable distribution dispute and then submitting the unresolved issues to Arbitration. Arbitration provides a means of maintaining confidentiality for the parties’ financial and other personal matters. When parties agree to arbitration, they may also establish a sub-set of unique rules which the Arbitrator will be required to follow. For example, there is a procedure commonly known as “Baseball Arbitration” in which one side make a demand and the other side makes an offer. The Arbitrator takes evidence and hears argument, and then must select whichever of the two numbers (the “demand” or the “offer”) which he or she thinks is closest to the value of the case. The Arbitrator has no discretion to award any amount other than the demand amount or the offer amount. Baseball Arbitration is suitable for certain types of cases, but is usually reserved for fairly unique circumstances. One of the benefits is that it puts a premium on each party putting a reasonable and fair offer and demand on the table. Incidentally, this Arbitration procedure got its rather colorful name because the Major League Baseball Owners and Players Association has a collective bargaining agreement which provided for this type of arbitration (if the parties could not agree, the team made a final offer, the player made his final demand, and the arbitrator had to select one of the two numbers). All of these forms of modified Arbitration provide a means for the parties to reach a final and prompt resolution of their dispute, but still retain a degree of control over the contours of a final resolution. The panel of Arbitrators offered by Juridical Solutions plc are Senior Professionals who have years of experience in handling complex civil and domestic matters.

Mediation and Arbitration are quite distinct procedures. Mediation is not binding upon the parties, but is a process where a Neutral Mediator works with the parties and their counsel in seeking to facilitate an agreeable resolution of the disputes between them. On the other hand, Arbitration is a process where the parties select a Neutral Arbitrator who will hear evidence presented by the parties, and then render a binding Arbitration Award. An Arbitration Award is essentially the same as a judgment by a Court of competent jurisdiction. In fact, an Arbitration Award may be enforced in State and Federal Courts. Historically, the two systems – Mediation and Arbitration – have been separate and distinct. The parties historically use one or the other, but not both. However, recent experience has shown that the two concepts can be combined into a unitary process which has the potential to provide the parties the best of both procedures and provide a highly efficient and fair system to end all matters in dispute. Mediation – Arbitration (or Med-Arb) is a simple procedure. If the parties agree, they sign a Juridical Solutions PLC Mediation-Arbitration Agreement. Then the assigned Juridical Solution PLC Neutral commences a standard Mediation process. The mediator tries to help the parties resolve all of their outstanding disputes. As is sometimes the case, the parties frequently resolve a number of issues and begin to reach a common ground, but cannot reach a final and complete resolution. Under Mediation-Arbitration, when both parties request it or when the Mediator determines that further mediation will not be productive, the Neutral Mediator or a new Neutral Mediator supplied by Juridical Solutions PLC or a similar organization will then assume the role as a Sole Arbitrator. At that point, the Arbitrator will hear any further evidence the parties care to present and review any legal memoranda or argument the parties care to present, and then enter a binding Arbitration Award. In rendering the Arbitration Award, the Arbitrator will, to the extent possible and if requested by the Parties, implement any resolutions reached in the mediation phase and resolve by an Arbitration Award only the matters remaining in dispute. The advantages to the Med-Arb combined procedure are substantial:

• Med-Arb is purely voluntary: it is only used if both parties agree to do so in advance of the Mediation.
• It provides an efficient procedure for the parties to resolve their disputes on a voluntary basis, and at the same time be assured that all issues will be resolved at the end of the process.
• When combined with a high-low agreement an agreement between the parties as to the minimum and maximum amount of an award which is not disclosed to the neutral Mediator or Arbitrator), it gives the parties substantial control as to the contours of the final resolution of their dispute.