Understanding the “WHEREFORE CLAUSE” part 3

Your next question may be: “Why would I chose to limit how much money I can get?”

Submitting a case to Arbitration can have a lot of benefits over a jury trial.

Jury trials are often expensive and procedurally rigid, and require the use of expert witnesses at the rate of thousands of dollars. There are costs associated with taking the depositions of fact witnesses, making copies of trial exhibits, and so on. If your case is a motor vehicle collision with $25,000.00 policy limits, or your injuries do not exceed $50,000.00 in damages, it may not make sense to take the matter to jury trial and expend those costs unnecessarily as this would only limit how much money you receive at the end.

Arbitrations, on the other hand, have far less procedural requirements, allow for flexibility with what exhibits are and are not admitted, can be held without the need for live testimony from any expert witnesses, and are often faster. Jury trials often last days/weeks, while an Arbitration is usuallycompleted within a few hours.

Moreover, the Court system is usually backlogged when it comes to the scheduling of jury trials because it requires coordination between the court, a judge, attorneys, the parties, all witnesses, and the selection of a jury. Meanwhile, Arbitrations are typically conducted by a larger pool of practicing attorneys, rather than the limited number of judges available to conduct trials.

Cons

No “Day In Court”
Limit on $

Pros

Cheaper
Faster
Flexibility

For instance, in some counties, your Arbitration is scheduled approximately six (6) months from the date of filing of your Complaint, and notice of that date is provided in advance. Your jury trial in that same county, however, may haveno guaranteed date, and, instead, you are placed in “jury pools,” where you wait to hear if you will be called. It can take months to years at a time, sitting, and waiting, on edge. You also risk needing to give your employer 24-hour’s notice that you’ll be missing from work for a week.

There is also the pro and con that the matter can be appealed. If you do not like the outcome, you can easily appeal it. The appeals process from a jury trial is much more complicated and time-consuming, and, after all that energy,it can be denied by a higher court. Again, this is a con because the defense can also easily take this appeal.

With Arbitration, rather than a jury trial, there is also the risk that you may not feel as if you “had your day in court.” It may not be as satisfying for you to sit through a short Arbitration, rather than “drag the Defendant to Court.” However, if your case is better suited for Arbitration, this is an acceptable con.

Part 1

Part 2

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