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
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