Arbitration | MediationAAA Arbitration Advantages and Disadvantages |  Agreement For ADR

What is AAA Arbitration?

In Pennsylvania, parties to a dispute are free to resolve their matter outside of the courts by agreeing to alternative dispute resolution, such as AAA  arbitration.  This is not scheduled through the courts.  In fact, with AAA arbitration, no court is involved.  The AAA arbitration fees are paid by the parties  (not the county, state, or federal courts).  A party may file suit in court instead, but if the parties have a prior agreement to litigation in AAA arbitration, the court may compel arbitration and suspend the court action pending the outcome of AAA arbitration.  

In federal court, the parties parties are required to consider alternative dispute resolution early in the case, through mediation, for example, but AAA arbitration is different from mediation, which is non-binding, as AAA arbitration is binding and fully resolves the entire case.   

Rules of Law and Procedure

In the AAA arbitration forum, you do not follow the state or  federal court rules of civil procedure (how and when  things are filed), however, the state and federal rules  governing basic contract law will apply.

Advantages

One clear advantage of arbitration over the courts is,  the arbitrators can be selected based on their  expertise in the subject matter of your dispute, which  could shorten the amount of time that lawyers spend  educating the fact finder.

Drawbacks

Parties often complain of the cost of filing a claim in  arbitration. Plus, unlike the rules of federal or state  procedure (where there are cases interpreting the  rules), the AAA arbitration rules have not been tested  and re-tested by the courts and so experienced  counsel is needed to avoid disputes over side issues  in the absence of cases interpreting the rules.

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