Business disputes are inevitable, but litigation is not. In fact, it is generally in your best interest to try and avoid litigation for the majority of disputes. Litigation is expensive and it can potentially drag out for years in some situations.
This is why alternative dispute resolution is popular. One common form of alternative dispute resolution is arbitration. According to FindLaw, you can arbitrate nearly any business dispute so long as the other party agrees to the process.
“Agree” is the key
So long as your dispute is over a civil and not a criminal matter, you can arbitrate almost anything. However, your desire to arbitrate does not take away the other party’s legal right to litigate a dispute. So if you wish to arbitrate a dispute and the opposing party wishes to litigate, you may find yourself in court anyway.
Ensuring agreement
However, even though both parties need to agree upon arbitration in order for it to occur, this does not mean that arbitration agreements are rare. In fact, if you wish to arbitrate the majority of your disputes, you may wish to include an arbitration clause in any contract that you sign with third parties. In this instance, both parties agree to arbitration before any conflict occurs.
Not only are arbitration agreements common in business-to-business relationships, they are also commonly a part of usage agreements that online shoppers encounter. For instance, if you read through the fine print on most travel websites, you will find that a customer by virtue of purchasing tickets through the travel website agrees to arbitration in the event of a dispute.