The rising litigation costs, time delays, and lengthy court quest has fostered the need for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods. These methods sought to allow warring parties to settle their disputes out of court. Dispute resolution can be made through arbitration, mediation, conciliation, negotiation, and neutral evaluation.
However, as opposing parties resort to ADR methods such as arbitration, there are a number of factors that should be considered to facilitate the process of dispute resolution. A reliable arbitrator should be brought on board to determine the patent dispute, employment discrimination, litigation settlement, or complex civil litigation disputes the opposing parties are facing.
The process of selecting an arbitrator ought to be handled with a lot of care. Parties are required to ensure they choose an intermediary who is skilled and very qualified for this task. This is why the following factors should be considered:
Qualifications
Working with an unqualified arbitrator only makes the case even more complicated. Before you decide which arbitrator to work with, ensure you have seen all their legal registrations and qualifications with the pertinent legal authorities. This will give you confidence that indeed you have entrusted your patent dispute or employment discrimination case to a professional to help reach a satisfactory resolution.
Availability
Alternative dispute resolution methods are aimed at providing a faster determination or settlement to a case outside the court. One way through which ADR is exercised is through an arbitrator. However, the arbitrator has to be readily available to ensure the dispute at hand is settled within the shortest time possible. This is why you must always ensure you check the arbitrator’s caseload. Besides, get to know if the arbitrator can dedicate enough attention and time to the intellectual property dispute at hand. After that, choose a professional who has a favorable schedule to allow him or her to attend to your case.
Background Check
With the ever-increasing number of arbitrators, it is very important to get to know the person or party set to resolve the dispute in question. When vetting the arbitrators at your disposal, make sure you see their resumes and work experience. Ask them to provide information regarding their awards and decisions made in the past. Besides, evaluate some of their published reports or research papers on matters regarding arbitration. In doing so, you get not only a qualified intermediary party, but also your dispute will be resolved in a satisfactory manner.
Experience
The arbitrator you choose must be knowledgeable in the area of contention the opposing parties are involved in. You need an expert who is good at decision making, managerial prowess, and with a comprehensive legal scope. This calls for a thorough assessment of CVs, academic qualifications, consultations, and online research to determine the expertise of every candidate. In that regard, you can easily tell which arbitrator is more experienced and suited to solve the patent dispute.
Conclusion
Alternative dispute resolution not only ensures opposing factions receive justice but also saves on time spend on solving disputes. The methods applied under this approach are less costly since there are no legal fees and spending too much time at the corridors of justice. Disputes can be resolved through mediation, arbitration, negotiation, or neutral evaluation. However, there is still a need for attention when you adopt any of those ADR methods. For instance, in the case of arbitration, you must choose an experienced and reliable arbitrator to provide a mutual binding dispute resolution.
