Litigation & Arbitration,
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Jun. 29, 2007
Arbitration Evolution
Dispute resolution outside of the court system is beginning to share traits with litigation.
Lawrence Waddington
Neutral, JAMS
Email: waddington1@aol.com
Lawrence is a retired Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge and former assistant attorney general for the state of California. He is author of "Disorder in the Court" at Amazon.com. He also edits the 9th Circuit blog, "The 9th Circuit Watch."
Originally conceived as an alternative to litigation, arbitration focused on providing an efficient and expeditious resolution of commercial contracts. When the Supreme Court expanded the scope of arbitrable claims to include federal statutory rights as evidenced by Title VII employment cases and other non-negotiated contracts, the role of arbitration evolved to include volatile and personal relationships. Federal and state courts increasingly confronted challenges to arbitration clauses...