There are four types of arbitrations used by arbitration lawyers and civil litigation attorneys in California. This article examines each of the four types and compares them to mediations. There are many disadvantages to using an arbitration instead of a mediation to try to resolve a dispute, but sometimes a client and their lawyer have no choice but to go to arbitration. If that is the case and a mediation is not a viable alternative, there are still choices to be made in order to make the arbitration go as well for one’s client as possible.