How To Sign Illinois Arbitration Agreement

How to document type sign arbitration agreement illinois

arbitration much like mediation or negotiation is a method of alternative dispute resolution which goes by the acronym ADR ADR methods represent alternatives to traditional litigation thus instead of a case being tried in state or federal court Hardy's agree to have it arbitrated to better understand how arbitration works we need to compare arbitration to litigation and the other ADR methods first we'll begin with the negotiation a negotiation is generally informal and involves a series of offers and counteroffers between the parties until they reach an agreement to resolve their dispute it is by definition a voluntary process and it may or may not ultimately resolve the dispute a mediation is typically a voluntary process though it can be required by a court in a mediation a third person referred to as the mediator tries to assist the parties in resolving their dispute oftentimes a trial court judge will even order the parties to undertake mediation the mediators role is to help the parties reach an agreement and dust2 resolve the case the mediator can suggest the terms under which the parties should settle the case however the mediator lacks the authority to require the parties to settle the dispute or to dictate terms litigation is a lawsuit which could result in the case being settled by motion or by trial with or without a jury the United States Constitution guarantees a right to trial by jury in many civil cases at the demand of either party should a jury make a bad decision the trial court judge has an obligation to correct the jury's verdict this could result in the jury's verdict being dismissed reduced or even increased if the trial court judge fails to correctly apply the law an appeal can be filed now we'll approach arbitration which is an alternative to these three methods of settling a dispute unlike mediations or negotiations arbitrations are binding on the parties they are binding in at least two ways first the arbitrator's ruling resolves the dispute even if one or both parties do not with it second an arbitrator's ruling will likely prevent any meaningful appeal or modification by a trial or appellate court arbitrations can run the whole gamut of dispute resolution for example they can resolve disputes between two large sophisticated businesses two or more insurance companies a dispute between a large corporation and a consumer and even disputes between two or more individuals under federal law arbitration is both permitted and even encouraged as evidenced by the Federal Arbitration Act under this law disputing parties agree to waive their rights to a trial this is commonly done before the parties even realize that there is a dispute such an agreement is referred to as a pre dispute arbitration agreement these are common and contracts that are negotiated and signed at the outset of a business relationship examples of such agreements can be found in mortgages and in contracts for credit cards cable television or even that cell phone that you're using it's almost impossible to buy a new automobile or have a loved one admitted to a nursing home without signing an agreement that contains an arbitration clause if an authorized individual signed the agreement it is most likely binding arbitration can avoid the time and expense associated with litigating a dispute instead one person or a panel reaches the conclusion in the case the arbitrator acts as a substitute for the trial court judge to jury and even the appellate court the arbitrator's decision is final and it is unlikely to be reversed or modified on appeal sometimes a three arbitrator panel judges a case one popular method of appointment is having each party select one of the arbitrator's the two arbitrators then select the third arbitrator unless there is an agreement to the contrary a unanimous decision by the arbitration panel is not required a majority vote is sufficient virtually all arbitration agreements identify a forum this is the organization that established the parameters of the arbitration such as who can serve as an arbitrator who is responsible for paying for the arbitration limitations on discovery and whether the parties can request an evidentiary hearing one of the most common arbitral forums is the American Arbitration Association the arbitral forum will typically have a list of approved neutrals these are the people who are permitted by the forum to serve as arbitrators an arbitrator may agree to arbitrate a dispute for a set fee although arbitrators typically charge by the hour for their time most approved arbitrators are either retired judges or experienced attorneys however some organizations such as the Better Business Bureau prefer local professionals who are familiar with a subject matter such as a structural engineer for a dispute involving the construction of a house unless otherwise specified in the arbitration agreement or the arbitral forums rules it typically is understood that the resulting cost of the arbitration will be split equally between the parties however many arbitration agreements require that the party who is seeking to enforce the agreement pay for the cost of the arbitration the scope of discovery is more limited in an arbitration proceeding than in a civil action if the matter was litigated it is likely that the applicable Rules of Civil Procedure would govern the various forms of discovery available including interrogatories requests for production of documents depositions and subpoenas to compel individuals to either testify or produce documents instead the arbitrator will follow the rules of the arbitral forum the arbitral forum will have rules that address the number of depositions that can be taken the number of document requests that can be made and the number of interrogatories that can be propounded it can also specify the number of witnesses who can testify at the hearing some arbitration proceedings are simply a matter of the parties submitting position statements and supporting documents to the arbitrator who then reviews them and issues a ruling or decision this is common in disputes between insurance companies in which they are each trying to determine which of their insureds caused a wreck other arbitration proceedings zoltan hearings before the arbitrator's or arbitration panels the procedures established by the arbitral forum will dictate what is permitted into evidence how long the hearing can last and whether the parties will be permitted to make opening statements or closing arguments the arbitrator's are the Trier of fact as there are no juries and arbitration proceedings the authority of the arbitrator to issue subpoenas to require people to attend the hearing or for third parties or for entities or individuals not parties to the dispute to produce documents is also quite limited though its costs may pale in comparison to lawsuits arbitration can be a very expensive method of ADR in addition to each arbitrator charging for his or her time arbitration forum will charge a various administrative fees oftentimes the fees are based on the amount in dispute and the number of parties to the arbitration an arbitrator typically has no authority to enforce his or her decision therefore it may be necessary for the prevailing party to file a lawsuit to enforce the arbitrator's award if the arbitration took place because one of the parties to a pending lawsuit filed a motion to compel arbitration that a trial court granted prevailing party to the arbitration can simply file a motion with the trial court to enforce the arbitration decision otherwise a separate lawsuit to get a judgment to enforce an award will be necessary as previously addressed rarely is an arbitrator's decision ever vacated or overturned by a court this is true even if the arbitrator incorrectly interpreted the facts or misapplied the applicable substantive law in arbitration can be a faster and more cost effective method of dispute resolution it has its shortcomings but as this presentation demonstrates it has also numerous practical advantages over other types of ADR and even litigation