Arbitration: A look at its form and performance

With arbitration, a person or panel approved by the disputants is charged with establishing an equitable settlement. At least in the construction industry, arbitration is primarily limited to smaller disputes between the contractor and owner, or the designer and owner. Now, however, as the costs and time required to litigate disputes increases, there is much greater interest in arbitration, and new forms of it are developing. Alternate approaches to arbitration are discussed herein, and their performance is evaluated. Special attention is given to the form and performance of arbitration used by state agencies.