Teresa F. Frisbie, Esq., senior mediator and arbitrator at ADR Systems, has published a new article in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin about commercial arbitration cases. In Meaningful Conferences Prevent ‘Arbigation’ in Commercial Cases, she describes the increasingly negative portrayal of arbitration among attorneys and their clients, who see it as a process that is not actually more efficient or economical than litigation.

“Arbitration, particularly in commercial cases, has become so mired in pretrial motions, discovery and extra procedural steps that it can seem indistinguishable from litigation — but without the benefit of the rules of civil procedure or evidence,” writes Ms. Frisbie. “This trend has left many lawyers and their clients wondering just how exactly arbitration lives up to the claim of being more efficient and economical than going to trial. As professor Thomas Stipanowich noted in his 2010 law review article, even the American Institute of Architects (AIA) stopped listing arbitration as the default dispute resolution process in its popular form construction contract.”

Frisbie details how certain tactics, especially the use of a thorough preliminary conference, can streamline the arbitration process.

“[T]he preliminary conference is also the opportunity for counsel to make suggestions for creative procedures to streamline the hearing including: direct examination by affidavit or witness statement; examination by conference of two or more witnesses; examination of both sides’ expert witnesses at the same time; dispositive motions on legal issues such as releases and statutes of limitation; and bifurcation of liability and damages,” she writes.

…………

Teresa F. Frisbie, Esq. is a senior mediator and arbitrator at ADR Systems and the director of Loyola University’s Chicago School of Law Dispute Resolution Program.  Ms. Frisbie’s expertise includes elder law and family business matters, employment law, and commercial matters.

Review Ms. Frisbie’s Full Bio.

Request Ms. Frisbie’s Availability. 

ADR Systems, It’s Settled.™