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From: greenber@acf4.UUCP (ross m. greenberg)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Not a flame: Arbitration Info
Message-ID: <580014@acf4.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 17-Jan-85 10:09:00 EST
Article-I.D.: acf4.580014
Posted: Thu Jan 17 10:09:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Jan-85 06:16:18 EST
Organization: New York University
Lines: 72

<>
The recent postings regarding lawyers and the legal system brought
to mind the fact that many people don't know about arbitration.

First, please recognize that arbitration will not and can not replace
the CRIMINAL justice system, but it can replace the civil justice
system very well.

For those of you who have not heard of arbitration let me clue you in on
it (I happen to be an arbitrator, too):

Due to a strange occurrance with a client, I found myself going to
arbitration over a contract.  The client thought one way, I thought
another, and the bill wasn't paid.

So we went to arbitration, told the story to the arbitrator, and
the case was settled in about three days (I basically won, though it
is sorta fuzzy --- I got most of the money in question, at least!)

The American Arbitration Association, with offices thoughout the country,
offers a real service for very few bucks.  Basically the process works
like this:

	I have a grievance.  I fill out a form from the AAA and let
	them know what the grievance is. They advise my adversary of
	this, and request from each of us a list of days in the next
	three months that we are not available.  They also give a
	list of arbitrators (usually 5-7) for each of us to rank as
	towards our preference.  Then we sit back and wait for a letter
	to say: "Arbitrator X has been choosen for your case, which is
	on date: XX/XX/XX"

	We go to the arbitrator, tell our stories, he asks questions,
	we tell more stories, and then finally it ends.  A few days
	later we each get the results (called an "award").

	The award can be questioned, but only to the arbitrator, who
	can confirm it, or change it.  If it is changed, then it can
	be challanged again.

	The award can stand up in court (usually).

The most important aspect (to me!) of the process is the selection of
the arbitrator.  AAA sends over the names of people that are specialized
in your field.  I, as an arbitrator, only do arbitation work regarding
computers/data-systems/consultants, etc.  So you don't have to spend
your valuable time educating judges and juries about the difference
between RAM and ROM.

The only thing is that you MUST have an Arbitration Agreement with
your adversary (mine reads as follows):

	"In the event of any claim and or greivance arising from this
	 agreement or part thereof, both parties agree to bring such
	 claim and or grievance before the American Arbitration
	 Association in , for arbitration under their then
	 current Commercial Rules.  Any such award that the
	 Arbitrator may make shall be considered final and binding
	 by both parties and may be entered into any court of competent
	 jurisdiction for reduction to a summary judgement."

I know that being an arbitrator is not an easy task: we get paid nothing,
it uses up our time, and making the RIGHT decision in a case is very
difficult (it is easy to always cut the baby in half, but rarely right!).

The Arbitrator is basically both judge and jury:  pick one whose
credentials you think will satisfy your needs the most.  Remember that
your adversary is doing the same thing!


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Ross M. Greenberg  @ NYU   ----> { allegra,ihnp4 }!cmcl2!acf4!greenber  <----