Florida business owners like you have many options available to resolve disputes. What works for one dispute may not work for all. Because of this, research and inspect your options before making a decision.
Two of these options are litigation and arbitration. One of these may suit your purposes. It all depends on what you want out of your dispute resolution.
What to know about arbitration
The Balance compares and contrasts arbitration and litigation. Arbitration may work for you if you and the other parties did not have too much of a falling out. In arbitration, an arbitrator will listen to all sides of the story. Based on the evidence, they make a decision that is legally binding. But this process is not as expensive and time consuming as litigation. Your personal business is not put on display either, as you do not go through the courts. Because of this, arbitration is a better option for less serious disputes. It allows you to work through things with a lower chance of burning bridges.
When litigation is right for you
But sometimes, a dispute is too intense for arbitration. This often happens if you are dealing with huge assets, big projects or large companies. You may also aim for litigation if the dispute was bad enough to ruin business relations. In this case, you may not find it possible to cooperate long enough to come to a mutually agreeable decision. In this case, it is best to go through the court. A judge will hand down a legally binding decision and the court record will exist for anyone to look into. This provides you with stability and security over the decision well into the future.
