I. Introduction.

Arbitration has successfully provided a forum for resolution of business to business civil disputes for many decades. Arbitrations should ordinarily be faster and less expensive than litigation in the courts, while providing processes and results that are at least as fair. Most of the concerns about modern day arbitration in business to business cases focus on cost and delay generally and, more specifically, on cost and delay incidental to discovery and motion practice. Some of those criticisms are appropriate in some cases, and some are not. So, what’s to be done?

Avoiding these problems is the duty of not only arbitrators (and the service providers who write the rules and provide administration), but also parties and counsel. Fortunately, there are workable solutions to issues of cost and delay where arbitrators, parties, and counsel really want to address them.