5 Arbitration Rules to Satisfactorily Settle Your Personal Injury Case Outside The Court

If you are pursuing a personal injury case, you should know your rights. One of those rights is to participate in the Arbitration Program annexed by Superior Court. While this program can be binding or non-binding, it can be very helpful in settling your personal injury case outside the court. As a result, you will be able to save considerable time, money and energy. Go over the following five rules of the arbitration program to better understand your rights against the huge insurance companies that you will be up against.

Rule 1

With the exception of certain cases, any civil claim under $100,000 (excluding lawyer's fee, court expenses and interest) that is filed in the Superior Court is subject to the arbitration process. Your case can be taken back from the arbitration by Superior Court if it finds that the claim is less than $100,000.

Rule 2

Both parties in the dispute have the option to choose an arbitrator within a period of 30 days. The Superior Court will give you a list of potential arbitrators and your selection should come from this list. Failure of the parties to agree on one name will prompt the Superior Court to shortlist the candidates, ask both parties to eliminate any two, and then choose one name from the other three.

Rule 3

You are required to provide a witness list, any evidence (including documents) and a short statement outlining your case arguments at least ten days prior to the arbitration. Witnesses can be compelled to testify and documents can be subpoenaed by the arbitrator. Discussing important case issues with the arbitrator in the absence of the other party is prohibited. If a party does not show up for the arbitration after being notified, the arbitrator has the authority to hear the present party's arguments and make a binding decision.

Rule 4

Once a decision has been made, the arbitrator will file it in the Superior Court no later than ten days after the arbitration result. Factual findings are not required to be part of the submitted decision unless requested by a party. The arbitrator has the authority to award more than $100,000.

Rule 5

If you are unsatisfied by the result of the arbitration, you can pursue a trial by filing a written rejection within twenty days of the arbitration result. Insurance companies will try their best to avoid, minimize and/or delay any payments you are entitled to for your personal injury. Knowing your rights and enlisting the help of an able attorney can help you get most of your possible claim amount quickly.

Take advantage of what mediation can bring in resolving a personal injury dispute. If you want the help of a seasoned mediator, contact M. David Halpern 814-940-1565 and talk to him about your concerns. David practices mediation and arbitration of personal injury and medical malpractice issues, both privately and for the court systems. Visit http://www.halpernmediation.com/ for more information.

The Five Good Reasons To Put Arbitration In Your Contract

When it is time to revise a contract you already have or when you sign a new one, one of the most important things you need to decide is whether to include mandatory arbitration rights or not. At times, this can be very useful in order to resolve disputes. So, if you have the liberty to make this decision, here are five factors that, if present in your contract, should be enough reason for you to opt for arbitration:

Consider this option if the issue is extremely technical in nature and it is important to have an industry professional to decide the dispute due to their familiarity and knowledge. A judge or jury might not be able to understand the technicalities completely.If you want to keep the proceedings of the dispute completely confidential and don't want court filings to be made, arbitration is a good choice. However, in the event that any party moves to vacate, the proceedings of arbitration still might become part of court files.Go for it if you want to avoid taking class actions in case of a dispute. When an arbitration agreement is made, such actions can be prevented, which might not be the case when there is no arbitration.If other parties that are part of the contract are having arbitration provisions, you can also decide to have arbitration. In some cases, other parties might be bound to arbitrate. If you agree to arbitrate in such cases, you can avoid a lot of problems with claims in the future.If there are chances that the judgment would need to be enforced in a foreign court, arbitration is preferable. This usually happens when the assets of the losing party are located abroad. Compared to a judgment received from U.S. court, an arbitration agreement is enforced in a much easier manner when it comes to foreign courts.

In terms of cost and time, both arbitration and court cases almost match each other, so there is definitely no advantage if you are looking for speed and saving. Therefore, if you have one of the above factors to consider, you might consider going for arbitration or else you can also opt for litigation. If an unfair jury or strict rules are your concerns in litigation, you should be aware that you can get an equally unfair litigation agreement and the relaxed rules might be used by your adversary to their advantage.

If you have questions about mandatory arbitration rights, contact Henry Abelman. Abelman is an experienced arbitrator and mediator. He has negotiated and drafted computer related contracts including copyright, trade secret, product warranty and licensing agreements. Call 770-625-5010 or visit http://www.mediation.com/memberprofile/henry--abelman-30301-0a.aspx Rate this Article

The Five Good Reasons To Put Arbitration In Your ContractNot Rated Yet

Henry Abelman has published 2 articles. Article submitted on August 12, 2013. Word count: 403

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The Five Good Reasons To Put Arbitration In Your Contract

When it is time to revise a contract you already have or when you sign a new one, one of the most important things you need to decide is whether to include mandatory arbitration rights or not. At times, this can be very useful in order to resolve disputes. So, if you have the liberty to make this decision, here are five factors that, if present in your contract, should be enough reason for you to opt for arbitration:

Consider this option if the issue is extremely technical in nature and it is important to have an industry professional to decide the dispute due to their familiarity and knowledge. A judge or jury might not be able to understand the technicalities completely.If you want to keep the proceedings of the dispute completely confidential and don't want court filings to be made, arbitration is a good choice. However, in the event that any party moves to vacate, the proceedings of arbitration still might become part of court files.Go for it if you want to avoid taking class actions in case of a dispute. When an arbitration agreement is made, such actions can be prevented, which might not be the case when there is no arbitration.If other parties that are part of the contract are having arbitration provisions, you can also decide to have arbitration. In some cases, other parties might be bound to arbitrate. If you agree to arbitrate in such cases, you can avoid a lot of problems with claims in the future.If there are chances that the judgment would need to be enforced in a foreign court, arbitration is preferable. This usually happens when the assets of the losing party are located abroad. Compared to a judgment received from U.S. court, an arbitration agreement is enforced in a much easier manner when it comes to foreign courts.

In terms of cost and time, both arbitration and court cases almost match each other, so there is definitely no advantage if you are looking for speed and saving. Therefore, if you have one of the above factors to consider, you might consider going for arbitration or else you can also opt for litigation. If an unfair jury or strict rules are your concerns in litigation, you should be aware that you can get an equally unfair litigation agreement and the relaxed rules might be used by your adversary to their advantage.

If you have questions about mandatory arbitration rights, contact Henry Abelman. Abelman is an experienced arbitrator and mediator. He has negotiated and drafted computer related contracts including copyright, trade secret, product warranty and licensing agreements. Call 770-625-5010 or visit http://www.mediation.com/memberprofile/henry--abelman-30301-0a.aspx Rate this Article

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California Construction Contracts and Arbitration

It's a general piece of common wisdom that decisions rendered by a legally-empowered arbitrator are absolute and absolutely binding. The entire point of a binding arbitration clause, after all, is that it is binding. If the decisions of arbitrators were easily overturned in the courts, it would render the entire process moot.

In general, the supremacy of properly-invoked arbitration decisions is firm and unassailable. However, under California law there are two general situations where an arbitration decision can be reversed or invalidated. In the first, a decision rendered by an arbitrator can be invalidated if the decision is based on an illegal contract, regardless of whether the arbitrator or the parties involved were aware of the contract's illegality.

The second situation allowing for the invalidation of an arbitrator's decision or award is if that decision 'violates an explicit expression of public policy.' This is a more diffused situation requiring a deeper understanding of the underlying law. A good example of this is a case where an unlicensed contractor is paid for acting as a general contractor, which is prohibited under California law; a contractor must have a Class B License to build a commercial building. In a situation where a contractor without a Class B License is paid to perform construction, they are compelled by law to return all fees. If a dispute is brought to arbitration and the arbitrator decides instead that the contractor can retain all fees despite a lack of license, this decision can - and most probably would be - invalidated by a judge if the case were brought into the courts.

It is often mistakenly assumed that if an unlicensed contractor is paid for construction work in violation of the law, the entire contract between the parties is deemed illegal, also invalidating any decision rendered by the arbitrator, but this is often not the case. Simply paying an unlicensed contractor - even with full knowledge of their unlicensed (and therefore illegal) condition is generally not regarded as infecting the contract as a whole, and thus the contract is not deemed illegal. This is therefore not a valid reason to reverse an arbitrator's decision. In the previous example, if the arbitrator had decided to return all fees from the unlicensed contractor this decision would likely have been upheld and the argument of an illegal contract would not have carried the day.

A thorough knowledge of the laws governing both construction and arbitration is essential to have an effective outcome. When seeking an arbitration or mediation professional, make sure to vet their experience in both.

If you need legal assistance regarding California construction contracts, let John S. Preston help you determine the best way course of action. As an attorney and licensed real estate broker who has practiced in real estate law and securities law for more than 30 years, John can serve you as an expert arbitrator and mediator. Call 510-763-9131 or go to http://www.johnspreston.com/