What are the advantages of arbitration over Court?
- It is significantly quicker than contested Court proceedings. Often matters can be dealt with in weeks rather than the many months of waiting for court hearings.
- The parties can choose their own specialist arbitrator, i.e. children or finances.
- The parties can control the arbitration to their own needs, for example, to be dealt with on paper submissions only in segments or in one go and by phone, video conference, or in person
- Speed. The arbitrator can deal with more than one issue at the time, e.g. finances and children as opposed to the courts who will deal with the matter separately, which again can mean lengthy delays and an increase in costs.
- Continuity. One arbitrator will deal with the case from start to finish and is on hand to deal with preliminary issues as they arise. With the court process various hearings can be dealt with by different judges and there is no continuity. Availability for a final hearing is at the parties’ convenience and often can be listed within weeks, rather than the many months that it takes for the Court to list a matter.
- Costs are generally less than Court proceedings. Most arbitrators will offer a fixed cost to review the papers, give directions, hear the case, and write up the award. The arbitrator’s costs are generally shared equally between the parties.
