Arbitration provisions are a common feature of commercial transactions for businesses trying to alleviate the burdens of litigation. In-house and transactional attorneys routinely include arbitration provisions in all flavors of commercial agreements. To put it bluntly: please stop. The professed benefits of arbitration in commercial cases are frequently overstated. Proponents of arbitration argue that it is cheaper and faster than litigation with “expert” arbiters rendering final decisions. Careful examination of these claims suggests that they are an unpersuasive justification for a process that should not be incorporated wholesale into every transaction. This article examines four of the most common justifications for arbitration and suggests examination of the knee-jerk impulse to include arbitration provisions in commercial agreements.

Arbitration Is Not Cheaper