Judges Clash In Overturning Arbitration Awards

The debate about arbitration vs. litigation goes on, with partisans both for and against. One argument used by both sides is the finality of arbitration. For those favoring arbitration, finality avoids costs and delays of endless appeals. For those favoring litigation, finality means no ability to challenge the arbitration award.

There was an interesting juxtaposition of cases that we reported on in June, 2013. In one case, out of the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals, an arbitration award was successfully challenged due to the bias of the arbitrator, the misconduct of counsel for the winning side, and the overall conduct of the arbitration. We called it "The Arbitration from Hell" and it was a pretty glaring case of an arbitration award that should not have stood. ( http://www.masudafunai.com/showarticle.aspx?Show=7624 )