Select the true statement about arbitration as a conflict resolution technique.

When it comes to dispute resolution, there are so many choices available to us. Understandably, disputants are often confused about which process to apply to their situation. This article offers some guidance, adapted from Frank E. A. Sander and Lukasz Rozdeiczer’s chapter on the topic in The Handbook of Dispute Resolution (Jossey-Bass, 2005).

Suppose that parties and their lawyers have exhausted their attempts to negotiate a resolution. They’re ready for outside help in ending their dispute, yet they don’t know exactly where to turn.

Select the true statement about arbitration as a conflict resolution technique.

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Here’s a review of the three basic types of dispute resolution to consider:

1. Mediation

The goal of mediation is for a neutral third party to help disputants come to a consensus on their own.

  • Rather than imposing a solution, a professional mediator works with the conflicting sides to explore the interests underlying their positions.

Mediation can be effective at allowing parties to vent their feelings and fully explore their grievances.

Working with parties together and sometimes separately, mediators can try to help them hammer out a resolution that is sustainable, voluntary, and nonbinding.

2. Arbitration

In arbitration, a neutral third party serves as a judge who is responsible for resolving the dispute.

  • The arbitrator listens as each side argues its case and presents relevant evidence, then renders a binding decision.

The disputants can negotiate virtually any aspect of the arbitration process, including whether lawyers will be present at the time and which standards of evidence will be used.

Arbitrators hand down decisions that are usually confidential and that cannot be appealed.

Like mediation, arbitration tends to be much less expensive than litigation.

3. Litigation

The most familiar type of dispute resolution, civil litigation typically involves a defendant facing off against a plaintiff before either a judge or a judge and jury.

  • The judge or the jury is responsible for weighing the evidence and making a ruling. The information conveyed in hearings and trials usually enters, and stays on the public record.

Lawyers typically dominate litigation, which often ends in a settlement agreement during the pretrial period of discovery and preparation.

For more information on how to handle a dispute resolution, read these related articles:  Three Questions to Ask About the Dispute Resolution Process – Three essential questions you need to ask about the dispute resolution process, Make the Most of Mediation – Make sure your next mediation session succeeds with these negotiation skills tips, Top Ten Business Negotiations of 2013 – Our top ten business negotiation deals of 2013, The Art of Deal Diplomacy – Combine the arts of diplomacy and savvy business negotiation in your next session at the bargaining table after reading this article, Capture the Best of Mediation and Arbitration with Med-Arb – Combine mediation skills and arbitration skills in your next session at the bargaining table and improve your results.

What do you think of these Dispute Resolution methods? Have you used any of them before? Let us know in the comment section below.

Originally published in 2014.

Select the true statement about arbitration as a conflict resolution technique.

Claim your FREE copy: Dispute Resolution

Discover how to improve your dispute resolution skills in this free report, Dispute Resolution: Working Together Toward Conflict Resolution on the Job and at Home, from Harvard Law School.


Adapted from “Trying to resolve a dispute? Choose the right process,” in the August 2009 issue of Negotiation.

Arbitration is a procedure in which a dispute is submitted, by agreement of the parties, to one or more arbitrators who make a binding decision on the dispute. In choosing arbitration, the parties opt for a private dispute resolution procedure instead of going to court.

Its principal characteristics are:

  • Arbitration is consensual

Arbitration can only take place if both parties have agreed to it. In the case of future disputes arising under a contract, the parties insert an arbitration clause in the relevant contract. An existing dispute can be referred to arbitration by means of a submission agreement between the parties. In contrast to mediation, a party cannot unilaterally withdraw from arbitration.

  • The parties choose the arbitrator(s)

Under the WIPO Arbitration Rules, the parties can select a sole arbitrator together. If they choose to have a three-member arbitral tribunal, each party appoints one of the arbitrators; those two persons then agree on the presiding arbitrator. Alternatively, the Center can suggest potential arbitrators with relevant expertise or directly appoint members of the arbitral tribunal. The Center maintains an extensive roster of arbitrators ranging from seasoned dispute-resolution generalists to highly specialized practitioners and experts covering the entire legal and technical spectrum of intellectual property.

In addition to their selection of neutrals of appropriate nationality, parties are able to choose such important elements as the applicable law, language and venue of the arbitration. This allows them to ensure that no party enjoys a home court advantage.

  • Arbitration is a confidential procedure

The WIPO Rules specifically protect the confidentiality of the existence of the arbitration, any disclosures made during that procedure, and the award. In certain circumstances, the WIPO Rules allow a party to restrict access to trade secrets or other confidential information that is submitted to the arbitral tribunal or to a confidentiality advisor to the tribunal.

  • The decision of the arbitral tribunal is final and easy to enforce

Under the WIPO Rules, the parties agree to carry out the decision of the arbitral tribunal without delay. International awards are enforced by national courts under the New York Convention, which permits them to be set aside only in very limited circumstances. More than 165 States are party to this Convention.

What is resolution of disputes by arbitration?

Arbitration is a private process where disputing parties agree that one or several individuals can make a decision about the dispute after receiving evidence and hearing arguments. Arbitration is different from mediation because the neutral arbitrator has the authority to make a decision about the dispute.

What arbitration means?

Arbitration is a procedure in which a dispute is submitted, by agreement of the parties, to one or more arbitrators who make a binding decision on the dispute. In choosing arbitration, the parties opt for a private dispute resolution procedure instead of going to court.

What is the process of arbitration?

The parties and arbitrators meet in person to conduct the hearing in which the parties present arguments and evidence in support of their respective cases. After the conclusion of the hearing, the arbitrators deliberate the facts of the case and render a written decision called an award.

Which is the best dispute resolution technique?

Arbitration. Arbitration is more formal than negotiation, mediation, or conciliation, and can look more like litigation. Parties submit their dispute to an arbitrator who renders a decision following the process. Parties can agree to arbitrate before or after a conflict occurs.