week 2 discussion board

1)Litigation refers to the discovery, pre-trial, law and motion, settlement, and trial phases of a business dispute when a complaint is filed with any court, from small claims court all the way to the Supreme Court.

Pros:

The right to a jury

Appeals process

Cons:

Time - a defended civil case can take 1-2 years to get to a hearing;

Money - expensive filing fees and protracted lawyer involvement;

Stress - a drawn-out process exacerbated by delay tactics adds to the emotional cost;

Uncertainty - at best, the outcome tends to be a zero-sum or win/ lose scenario.

Arbitration refers to a matter that the parties have agreed, often in advance, will be settled by and arbiter, who acts as a private judge.

Pros:

Cost, arbitration is usually cheaper

Speed, arbitration usually follows defined timelines

Fairness, both parties select the arbitrators

Finality, difficult to appeal

Simplified procedures, less time consuming

Confidential, not done is open court and transcripts are not public record

Cons:

Cost, arbitrations can be binding or non-binding. In non-binding arbitrations, the final decision or award in the case is not "binding" and the parties are free to take their issue back to court, essentially adding the cost of litigation to that of the prior arbitration

No jury, the final decision will be left in the hands of the arbitrator

Location, the location can be local or in another state

Mediation refers to a matter in which both parties have agreed to attempt to mediate a settlement before resorting to, or returning to a lawsuit

Pros:

Price, cost less than litigating in court

Time, mediations can be scheduled a convenience location for both parties and the mediator

Control, you are bound by the findings of the judge or arbitrator

You reserve the right to litigate if you don't like the outcome you can go to court

Cons:

Waste time & money if both parties are not willing to mediate the dispute

You agree to a bad agreement because of bad mediator

Information will not be made public this is a con if the parties want their case public

  Reference:

http://www.gastonandgaston.com/litigation-vs-arbitration-vs-mediation/

http://adr.findlaw.com/arbitration/arbitration-pros-and-cons.html

2)The definition of arbitration is an alternative form of dispute resolution in which parties submit evidence to a third party who is a member of the American Arbitration Association and who makes a decision after hearing the case.

Mediation is defined as alternative dispute resolution mechanism in which a third party is brought in to find a common ground between two disputing parties.

Litigation is also defined as the process of taking legal action.

The pros and cons are fees, legal costs, time costs, image costs, capital costs, costs of alternatives to litigation, costs of not ligating, public relations issues, and just appeal.