How does Arbitration work in Nevada?

We get a lot of questions from business owners about what is arbitration, and how does arbitration work here in Nevada? What is arbitration? Arbitration is an alternative way to resolve a business legal dispute, and a lot of contracts require arbitration. So all the sides in the dispute pick someone to be the arbitrator, and oftentimes they pick an organization like the American Arbitration Association. That arbitrator will have a mini-court proceeding. There will be an opportunity for the sides to exchange information with each other, request information, there will be a hearing where each side puts on its witnesses, shows the arbitrator documents that bolster their case, and the arbitrator will take all of that information and make a ruling. Once that arbitrator makes the ruling, it’s really hard to appeal from that or change the ruling.

What to consider during arbitration as a business owner?

What are the important considerations for you as a business owner about arbitration? Well, one consideration is that arbitration is quicker than going to court. Arbitration will get resolved usually within 6 to 12 months, whereas going to court can take 18 months to 36 months. Another consideration for arbitration is that arbitration is great at protecting confidentiality for a business. When your business is in court with a legal dispute, it is disclosing a lot of sensitive information about the state of the company and the way the company conducts its business. When all of that gets filed, the files will generally be publicly available and hard to seal. You probably don’t what that information to ge out to your competitors. However, if you’re in arbitration, no one gets to know the confidential details.

How much does business arbitration cost?

Another consideration about arbitration is; What is the expense of arbitration? Now, there’s a misconception out there that some people think that arbitration is a lot less expensive than going to court. The reality is that it’s almost as expensive as going to court, and that’s because you’re doing a lot of the same things. The same activities you would do if you were in court are done in arbitration, including having that hearing with the arbitrator. Another part about the cost is that when you go to court, you don’t pay for use of the judge. But when you’re in arbitration, both sides pay the arbitrator or the arbitration service for those services, and that’s an additional expense that you only have in arbitration.

There is no jury during an arbitration

another important consideration about arbitration is that there’s no right to a jury. You pick the arbitrator and that person will make the ruling. What’s more, the ruling is considered binding. That means that there are only very few circumstances where you can take an appeal to court and challenge the arbitrator’s award. Generally, that award is just going to stand. 

An arbitration attorney can make all the difference

As you can see, arbitration is a complicated process. We’ve tried to answer some of the questions that you’re going to have about that process, but we know you have additional questions. So if you, as a business owner or a business manager, are looking seriously at arbitration and you have questions, give us a call. We’d love to support you through that process.