What is Arbitration?
After an Arizona personal injury accident, there are several possible outcomes that can happen if you decide to pursue a personal injury claim. You can work with your lawyer to determine an acceptable compensation number and then send your demand letter to the other party or parties who have liability in your accident. What happens next is unknown until it takes place. The other party can accept and settle with you quickly, they may not completely agree with your number and explanation and instead respond with a counter-offer, or they can all-out reject all aspects of your demand letter. If you and your lawyer can’t come to terms with the other parties you may either be headed to arbitration or the court to resolve your dispute.
What is the Difference Between Arbitration and a Trial?
Arbitration is a more informal court trial that is held in private and where an unbiased party, the arbitrator hears all sides of a dispute and issues a ruling. The testimony and evidence are very important during an arbitration hearing just as they would be in the courts. The decision that is made happens fairly quickly. It is possible to work through arbitration without an attorney, but expect to put significant time and effort into compiling your case if you don’t enlist professional legal assistance. You can easily miss details of your case that would be essential to proving your argument when you don’t have a trained eye who already knows the process and understands how to meticulously inspect every aspect of your claim.
When you go into an Arizona arbitration hearing coming to a resolution is something that will come about much quicker than a court trial. Court trials are not expedient or cheap. They can take upwards of a year or more, they can be very pricey, and they can also yield and uncertain outcome considering it is up to a judge or a jury to make final decisions. Arbitration, by contrast, may only take three to six months to complete. Additionally, the parties involved agree on the third-party arbitrator used versus in a court where a judge gets assigned without any input from anyone in the case.
Courts are open to the public, this is another consideration. When you compare court trials to arbitration hearings, you will see that arbitration can be kept private. And if you go to court and a judge deems that there are any statutory or procedural rules broken, you can have your case was thrown out on that basis alone, versus in an arbitration hearing all parties get to establish the guidelines and rules of operation.
Do You Need an Arizona Personal Injury Attorney?
The considerations that take place when going through an Arizona personal injury case are vast. This is why it is so important that you are properly represented and your best interests and your legal rights are preserved. The Arizona serious injury attorneys at ELG only work on Arizona personal injury cases. We can help you with your claim.
You can contact the Phoenix personal injury lawyers at ELG today at (623) 877-3600 to schedule a free consultation.