Almost all equipment sales contracts and most property leases being used in the laundry industry, or elsewhere in business today, call for arbitration in the event of any legal problem arising from the contract. The basic reasoning is that lawsuits are expensive and arbitration procedures save money for both sides of a dispute. It still can be expensive, but there are fewer delays than when the sides have to take their case to court.
Arbitration is different from standard litigation in several ways. To begin with, the process is faster, a lot faster. That speed saves everyone money.
The parties to the process agree to a neutral arbitrator who may or may not have a background in their trade or industry.
These are often retired judges or very experienced trial attorneys. Judges use being an arbitrator to “keep their hand in” and provide extra income. It’s neat to watch them work because they know all the tricks and they tend to keep things going by cutting out excess hyperbole from the lawyers.
There are two types of techniques used to get at the truth. In most cases, people will conversationally relate what happened. However, some attorneys ask for witnesses to follow legal procedures. That is to answer questions just like one would in court. This format is agreed to by each side’s attorney in advance.
Think of how you want to be questioned and instruct your attorney to agree to the system you will be most comfortable with. Most of us are business people, and more comfortable being conversational instead of talking legal and thus being restricted. Following a legal style tends to restrict answers, and questions are often designed to draw conclusions that are favorable to the asking attorney’s side.
Discovery, which is the obtaining of information by each side from the other, can be expensive and time consuming. There are what is called interrogatories sent out by each side, or it’s done by depositions. That is both time and money consuming. It’s done in court cases, but almost never during the arbitration process.
In an arbitration proceeding, both sides gather around a table in a conference room to discuss the facts of the dispute. This is done less formally than it would be in court. There can be something of a fact finding nature to the whole process. Usually both sides are far more relaxed. There is not so much emphasis on following rules and procedures, which businessmen feel is lawyer talk and confusing mumbo-jumbo.
Decisions made in arbitration are handed down more quickly than in typical court cases. Whoever is selected to be the arbitrator is the sole judge in the case. He or she listen to both sides, asks questions to fill in the blanks he or she sees in the case. They then offer a written decision shortly after the sides have rested. There is no right to appeal a decision unless the arbitrator can be shown to have somehow violated the law.
Arbitration does really save both parties time and money.
