Recent Lessons In Preparing For And Responding To Security Breaches

As an alternative to resolving issues before the courts, parties frequently include dispute resolution clauses in their commercial contracts setting out how certain issues or potential disputes will be resolved and by whom. These clauses often take the form of an arbitration agreement, pursuant to which all disputes arising under a contract (or, in some cases, certain specified disputes) will be decided by one or more arbitrators to the exclusion of the courts. In some cases, however, parties agree that an issue will be determined by a third-party decision maker, who is acting as an "expert" (such as an appraiser or accountant who has expertise in a particular area), as opposed to an arbitrator. These clauses, commonly referred to as expert determination clauses, often involve a specific, technical or financial issue, such as, for example, establishing the fair market value of an interest in real estate, the appropriate method for calculating a post-closing purchase