Arbitration Articles

In the 1980s, I had an eye-opening experience that at first seemed completely unrelated to my dental practice. To move some precious antique furniture across state lines, I hired a national carrier. During the move they lost a bench that went with a foot-pump organ. The piece had special value beyond its monetary worth. It was never found.

Seeking compensation, I soon learned I had agreed to binding arbitration, a legal technique unfamiliar to me. The moving company informed us that they were willing to arbitrate, if we wished. Or we could accept their offer of $75, which seemed a pittance, given what had been lost. We reluctantly accepted their offer. It was disappointing but the lesson I learned was invaluable to my dental career.

There is a powerful reason to initiate binding arbitration in a dental practice. While we know that unrealized expectations are the major cause of a patient seeking redress, the second cause of adversarial complaints stems from unpaid bills. Further, some who want to escape their dental billing threaten the office with legal action if their bill is not reduced or cancelled. It's an ugly fact of life and can cause a dentist a great deal of grief. The solution is to require payment at the time of delivery and to institute binding arbitration.

The process is simple. If a dispute arises, both sides pay a small fee to fund an experienced arbitrator. The parties may or may not be represented by a lawyer, and the process is quick, fair and private. Awards made in binding arbitration are generally considered to be more reasonable than jury awards. With HMOs and health care providers jumping onto the arbitration bandwagon, why not dentistry?

In 1986, in consultation with legal counsel, and the American Arbitration Association, our dental office fashioned a binding arbitration statement and began asking new patients to sign off on it. Our introductory health questionnaire and informed consent release forms carried this notation:

"I further agree that any dispute about the reasonableness or computation of fees, or any claim of negligent or intentional acts or omissions in the rendering of professional services, either in this instance or in any other treatment rendered by staff in this office, shall be submitted to binding arbitration under Chapter 679A of the Code of Iowa (1993). It is understood by both doctors and patient that by agreeing to submit all claims or assertions that either patient or doctor may have against the other, arising out of this agreement, patient and doctors have given up their right to a jury or a court trial."

The morning we launched this program, my staff was certain that I had lost it. They were sure – and I feared they might be right – that we would be forced to back down from this program. They dreaded what they assumed would be negative patient response.

Sure enough, on the first day a new patient refused to sign the statement and he walked. Upon reflection, we had doubts about that patient's intentions and concluded that his departure may have been in our best interest.

Since that single patient walked, tens of thousands of patients have signed our binding arbitration agreements. They are invited to sign twice – once when they submit their health history and again when they sign an informed consent form after watching an Informed Consent Video.


In the first article of this series, I counseled the use of Informed Consent Videos to prevent unwarranted litigation. The second nail in the coffin of senseless litigation is binding arbitration, because experience has shown that a considerable number of patients who want redress do so only to escape a payment due.

Legal in all fifty states, binding arbitration has freed the courts from messy lawsuits. Avoiding lawsuits helps us dentists immeasurably by not letting our reputations be publicly tarnished, which can happen regardless of a lawsuit's outcome.

After we inaugurated this option in my former dental practice, of those tens of thousands of patients, only one requested binding arbitration. We happily obliged. And for what it's worth, the finding was in our favor.

If a patient expressed a desire to lodge a complaint, we followed the admonition counseled in my first article: Use any means possible to defuse the situation. Offer an apology, remake or repair – whatever it takes to appease the patient. If they refuse to accept any of those tenders, then offer them a brochure that outlines how they may pursue binding arbitration.

Two national organizations can explain this simple process:

• net-ARB (internet-ARBitration) – www.net-ARB.com
• NFA (National Futures Association) – www.nfa.futures.org

Your starting point is to talk with your legal counsel to fashion a document that follows your state laws. Then, contact the two organizations listed, for help in finding an arbitrator if and when needed. net-ARB conducts its arbitrations by email, making it the more convenient of the two.

Binding arbitration is a powerful tool to insulate a dentist from litigious-minded patients and their counsel. Failing to raise this barrier is like practicing dentistry without professional liability insurance – a move no right-thinking dentist would even contemplate.

Article Three of this series will deal with the perils that lie within our dental staff. And there are many.

You'll find the other two articles in this series and an example of a Customer Satisfaction brochure on our Pre/Op/Ed website, » www.PreOpEd.com


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net-ARB is an online arbitration service provider that facilitates quick and fair resolution of disputes through the convenience of email. net-ARB was founded by Marty Lavine, an Attorney, Mediator, and Arbitrator in order to provide efficient and economical way to settle disputes. It replaces the traditional small claims courts that take a lot of time and involve so many other hassles. We resolve conflicts through Internet arbitration and our professional arbitrators are unbiased and declare the final verdict only after scrutinizing all important aspects of the case.

net-ARB provides quicker, cheaper and more effectual resolution of disputes and works as an excellent intercession for the rapidly growing internet community. It eradicates all the geographical and jurisdictional restrictions of the legal system and declares the final decision in just a few days. Online arbitration is an excellent solution to settle disputes at the as the court systems are slow, costly and out of reach especially in case of international e-commerce.

net-ARB's Arbitration Process is Very Quick and Simple
When you file a case with us, all you need to do is fill in our online form and provide us with the name and email address of the other party. It is recommended that the two parties should agree on the arbitration before filing a case. Once we received the required information from your side we will contact the other party through an email and get an arbitration agreement signed. After both the parties have accepted the Arbitration Agreement, we will assign a professional arbitrator to hear the case and render a fair and impartial decision. The entire process is completely transparent and no messages are hidden from either parties. The arbitrator also provides the reasons for the decision.. Both the parties receive the decision within 1-2 days after the hearing is completed.

Attention Online Retail Stores Owners!
You can now increase your conversion rate by becoming a member of our Confidence Program. net-ARB's Confidence Seal gives your site a hallmark of safety and trust that will help you to retain existing customers and win new ones. This will not only boost your conversion rate but also help to increase your goodwill and brand image in the e-business space. We add the required reliability to your e-commerce business and help you to maintain your customer base. Make Internet a better, safer place to shop and interact by joining us today. For further details, please check out net-ARB's » Consumer Confidence Program.


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The internet will do for arbitration what Google did for the retrieval of information. By bringing alternative dispute resolution to your home, office or cell phone, time and inconvenience are no longer an obstacle to justice worldwide.

To help you understand how inexpensive and convenient online arbitration is, I've chosen net-ARB, an internationally endorsed service provider to outline the process. Since net-ARB arbitrates under principles of common law and equity rather than strict adherence to statutory law, you can't be defeated by some quirky legal technicality. This levels the playing field between law professionals and everybody else both locally and internationally.

Free Case Submission: Just give us the names and email address of both parties and when the arbitration agreement is accepted, an appropriate arbitrator will be assigned to the case. net-ARB's arbitrators come from many different legal, professional, technical and international backgrounds to ensure fair, unbiased resolution to any dispute. The Hearing: Detailed instructions will guide you through sending your testimony, submitting your evidence, and even cross-examining the other side all by email. Hearings last from a couple of days to a week or two depending on the complexity of the case and how quickly the parties submit their evidence. The Decision: The arbitrator will issue a binding, written decision (called an "Award") within 2 business days of both parties resting their case. In case of non-payment by the non-prevailing side, arbitration awards are routinely enforced both nationally and internationally. The United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards shows overwhelming support in »142 countries worldwide.

Like PayPal, eBay and Amazon.com have transformed the way we do business on the Internet, net-ARB is transforming the way disputes are handled as well. To see all the ways online arbitration to reduce your legal fees, improve customer service, fulfill contract clauses calling for arbitration, settle everything from will squabbles to e-commerce disputes and more, click » Arbitration Uses.


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The emergence of Internet has significantly changed the way buying and selling goods and services happen. The benefits of Online shopping make it THE WORLD'S #1 SHOPPING MALL. An unfortunate natural consequence is an increase in the number of internet-generated disputes. Until now, no one has been there to help online buyers and sellers settle those disputes. net-ARB fills that void professionally with quick and convenient dispute resolution at an extremely affordable price of less than $100 per party for a final, binding decision.

Online arbitration is great for resolving disputes anytime parties are unable to meet face to face. Check out these other terrific benefits online arbitration provides:

Hassle-free process: net-ARB's online arbitration process is easy and effective. Just give them the name and email address of the other party and they do the rest. The entire process takes place by email, so you work from the comfort of your home or office.

Information is kept Confidential: net-ARB makes sure your information is safe by using the same ultra-reliable security and encryption used by the world's biggest banks. What's more, there is no public record of your dispute or arbitration decision as there would be in the case of a court proceeding.

Speedy outcome: net-ARB provides quick results. The whole process can be completed within just a few days after both sides sign the Agreement to Arbitrate.

Unbiased resolution: net-ARB uses experienced, neutral arbitrators from across the globe to ensure fair and unbiased outcomes that are based solely upon the evidence in each individual case. net-ARB's quality assurance as a neutral provider for arbitration services is provided by Conflict Resolution Academy, one of the nation's leading providers of Conflict Management and Resolution training and resources.

Highly Economical: net-ARB makes justice affordable! At less than $100 per party, no traveling expenses, and no need to take time away from other purposes, net-ARB is affordable to everyone! And with panel decisions only $50 more, the luxury of certainty is now no more than a standard upgrade.

Encourage international trade: Online arbitration aids international trade by removing the geographic obstacles to justice. Email eliminates the extremely cumbersome need for in-person meetings and constant battling with time-zone restrictions.

Successful resolution of all disputes: Online arbitration is a simpler, quicker and easier way to resolve different types of disputes. Online arbitration resolves different categories of disputes from commercial disputes to family arguments, and even friendly bets.

net-ARB provides quality, low-cost arbitration with the ease of email.. Our mission is to increase Integrity and Accountability in the internet community, both locally and worldwide. Don't litigate — arbitrate!


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High legal fees and drawn out court cases are a thing of the past with net-ARB's online arbitration service. Bringing together parties irrespective of geographic concerns with experts in alternative dispute resolution, net-ARB is the best solution when conflicts arise.

1. Affordable: net-ARB's total cost is less than the filing fees of many courts. At $199 internet arbitration is the most affordable dispute resolution service available.
2. Availability: Geographic restrictions prohibit justice in many ways today. Suppliers, providers and users worldwide find email the only solution to settle disagreements.
3. Fast: Small claims court can take months to start. Online arbitration hearings begin immediately and awards are typically rendered within 48 hours of the hearing ending.
4. Private: In most cases, court decisions and personal information pertaining to the participants become public record. Online arbitration is contractually confidential.
5. Productive: Paying lawyers by the hour inherently creates a conflict of interest. net-ARB's flat fee and ease of email allows anybody to get justice anywhere.
6. Equality: Legal justice is prohibitively expensive. Now it's available to those who can't afford lawyers, are geographically isolated, or just want a better solution.
7. Endorsed: The Conflict Resolution Academy, a leading international resource for conflict management and leadership training, reviews and approves all net-ARB arbitrators.

To find out more about using internet arbitration to reduce legal fees, improve customer service, fulfill contract clauses calling for arbitration, settle will arguments, e-commerce disputes and more, see » Personal Uses.


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In the court system, time zones and physical location are obstacles to justice. You might win or lose on technicalities, court dockets are full, and attorneys are expensive. Recent research indicates that an employment case averages $50,000 in legal fees over 24 months, while the compensation expected by law firms in personal injury cases has reached $25,000. No wonder 100 million Americans think that the court system is out of their financial reach and 20% of American employers now have arbitration clauses in employment contracts.

Online arbitration services like net-ARB have harnessed the power of the Internet to overcome the limits of the court system, just as PayPal did for banking, Google did for the retrieval of information, and eBay and Amazon.com did for retailing. By eliminating expensive attorneys, jurisdictional inconsistencies and need for travel, both businesses and consumers can now get resolution to common disputes decided quickly by professional arbitrators for less than a typical attorney's hourly charge.

With Internet arbitration there are no problems with full court systems and physical location either. Hearings are conducted entirely by email and begin immediately after both parties sign the arbitration agreement and last as long as it takes both sides to present their case. Typically that's a few days to a week or so, compared to the months or more than a year in many cases before you get your day in court.


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Geographic diversity is the essence of net-commerce. As business operations have become more global and sophisticated, there's been a parallel growth in international or cross-border litigation. Each time a civil dispute touches an international transaction, it triggers complex substantive, jurisdictional, and procedural issues concerning the application and enforcement of U.S. and foreign law.

Many particularly US-based organizations require litigation in their home state — even their home county! This effectively means that a consumer in anything but the largest disputes is shut out from any effective justice. Why would you travel to Santa Barbara from Miami to fight over $1000? Why would you fly to Australia to the US to fight over $3000? But you might think seriously about buying $3000 worth of goods from an Australian company given that if the goods are of poor quality, for example, you can't get justice.

Online arbitration through net-ARB ensures low cost, quick resolution of your dispute wherever you and your supplier are, so that you can buy with confidence knowing that your supplier is committed to low-cost and fast dispute resolution. Because arbitration awards are enforceable world-wide due to a United Nations treaty, you know that the playing field is level... even more because you don't need lawyers in small disputes and because you get a chance to think about things or get help from friends or experts before you write them down, as opposed to being cross-examined live in a witness box.

A business commitment to low-cost dispute resolution which does not disadvantage a consumer is a sure sign of an ethical approach to customer relations.


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Up until recently, the time commitment and cost of settling a dispute prohibited getting justice for many locally, and made international dispute resolution virtually impossible. Now, with the emergence of online arbitration, both businesses and consumers can access specialized arbitrators via email for a low fixed fee.

For example, an entire case from start to finish at net-ARB costs less than 30 minutes with an average lawyer in any North American city and less than the filing fees for most Australian or British courts. Also, since the fees are fixed, no one has an interest in making cases go longer than they should.

Not only are net-ARB arbitrations MUCH more affordable than litigation, they are also conducted in a fairer fashion. Based on the applications of common law and equity rather than statuary law, there are no tricky procedures or motions for this, that or the other.

Common Law provides a "common ground" for disputes that cross jurisdictional lines or deal with relatively new technology and e-commerce advancements. Since net-ARB arbitrators are assigned based on the case's specifications, there's no need to hire experts to testify. That means you just have to present the facts of your individual case. Alternatively, Texas has over 250 counties with its own court headed by an elected judge who may or may not be an expert in your situation. That's why cases like Microsoft vs Lucent have been going for years.

While disputes may not be avoidable at times, paying high legal fees, traveling to distant locals, and waiting months or years to get settlement is.


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Traditional legal solutions based on localization are inappropriate for cross-border e-business transactions. The instantaneous and truly international Internet necessitates similar solutions.

Not only are net-ARB arbitrations conducted in a fairer fashion — no tricky procedures or motions for this, that or the other — they are fairer because they make justice more accessible to businesses in every state and all over the world — fast. net-ARB uses common law principles, the basis of the world's best practice in consumer protection in all areas.

The average cost of an expert net-ARB e-commerce arbitration is less than you'd pay for 30 minutes with the average experienced lawyer in any European city. There's no need to bring experts in to testify about a relatively new part of e-commerce. net-ARB's specialist arbitrators are chosen because they understand international e-commerce, which means that you only present the facts of your individual case, saving you time and money, without the need to travel. It's even possible to have arbitrations conducted in the language of your choice, and It Is always convenient to your time zone since you make the time whenever you want.

If a party to a net-ARB arbitration does not comply with the award of the arbitrator and enforcement proceedings are necessary, a certified copy of the award can be turned into an enforceable judgment in a court of law where the losing party lives or does business. There are several international conventions for Enforcement of Arbitral Awards, most notably the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention), to which the USA is a party.


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Arbitration using net-ARB will settle a dispute very quickly where direct negotiation has failed. Arbitration differs from mediation because an Arbitrator is in essence a judge whereas a mediator is only a helper. And because arbitration awards cannot be appealed, they are even more final than a court decision.

A Mediator may not render a decision and has no power of adjudication. Mediation is built on the concept of getting the sides to agree, often by assisting them to reach a figure by talking to each side separately. Depending on the mood of the parties and the complexity of the dispute, this can be a lengthy process and often expensive for that reason. Plus you never know whether or not mediation will work, so I could all be a waste of time.

The Mediator need not be a "subject expert" in order to do their job. This causes problems in mediation when one side or the other does not understand the technical complexities which arise and holds an unrealistic bargaining position because of that misunderstanding. However, a net-ARB Arbitrator is in most cases a subject expert so that separate expert witnesses will not even be needed.

net-ARB's process is fast: if the parties can't solve matters by direct negotiation, a net-ARB arbitration takes only as long as the parties need to email their supporting documentation and to then cross-examine each other by email. The Arbitrator examines the evidence and renders a decision within 2 or 3 days. Typical cases are open and closed in less than two weeks.

Arbitration delivers a certain outcome, which can be enforced according to international treaties in the USA and most countries. And net-ARB arbitrations are conducted for a fixed fee, so there's no chance of a cost blow-out.


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One of the frustrating ways that courts fail to keep up with the real world is the application of consumer protection laws to global commerce. At net-ARB we believe — as do those businesses that join us — in a level playing field of protection. This means uniform rules for all (such as common law principles) and not allowing anyone to turn a case upside-down on mere technicalities. Or the fact that statutory law is often light-years behind developments in the e-marketplace. net-ARB's decisions are based on fairness, not legal tricks.

For example, let's say you buy safety equipment on line. You'd expect it to comply with international safety standards; that if there is an International Standards Organization (ISO) standard for Hearing protectors (there is, it's ISO 4869-2:1994 Acoustics) a company in a country which doesn't comply with ISO standards couldn't claim a technicality that as selling non-ISO compliant goods isn't illegal in (say) China, or Nepal, or Syria, and they're based in that country, then they can sell whatever they like on the Internet whether it's compliant or not in whatever countries they choose. That's a defense based on strict reading and narrow interpretation.

Sticking to a narrow statutory base as opposed to a wider common law base excludes the most recent developments in the common law worldwide. In some parts of the world, statutory protections to consumers are narrower than the common law's landmark "Donohue v Stevenson" rule in Britain. Or, because they're more restrictive — they're codified — they can't keep pace with modern developments. It is very possible to argue that it is legal to sell counterfeit jeans and perfumes in the Canal Street district — it's making them that breaches copyright, record stores worldwide sell bootlegs all the time — and that because it's legal to sell them, you have no recourse if you buy counterfeit goods on the Internet. (The same used to apply to music purchased from China. According to a statement by RIAA after a court hearing involving Yahoo China in Beijing in 2007, over 99 percent of all music downloading in China infringes copyright, and services such as Yahoo China account for the bulk of the problem.) Statutory protections might differ from country to country (or might not exist at all), so buyers of counterfeit goods from some counties have no chance of justice.

net-ARB uses common law, the basis of the world's best practice in consumer protection in all areas. Not only are net-ARB arbitrations conducted in a fairer fashion, they're fairer to everyone because they make justice speedy and easily accessible to consumers.

When sellers support arbitration through net-ARB they demonstrate to potential customers that they will not try to hide or rely on technicalities, important protections for wary consumers.


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We can't say it better than President Taft, then Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court, did in 1922: "there is justification for the common belief on behalf of millions of common people that on account of their poverty alone, justice does not reach them as it does the rich." But at net-ARB, we're changing that. As PayPal did for banking, Google did for the retrieval of information, and eBay and Amazon.com did for retailing, net-ARB is using the Internet to transform the way disputes are handled anywhere that there is an Internet connection. By bringing alternative dispute resolution of everything from will squabbles to e-commerce disputes to your home, office or cell phone, time zones and physical location are no longer obstacles to justice.

Since net-ARB arbitrates under general principles of common law and equity rather than strict adherence to statutory law, you can't be defeated by some quirky legal technicality. This does much to level the playing field between consumers and suppliers wherever in the world they may be.

Arbitration is much less costly than litigation. Fees for litigating an employment case can cost at least $50,000. The American Bar Association estimates that as many as 100 million Americans are shut out of the legal system due to the high cost of justice. It says only 32% of Americans believed they could afford to bring a case in court. Only 20% believed court cases are decided in a timely manner. net-ARB arbitrations cost between $199 and $399 depending on whether they're conducted by one or three arbitrators.

Arbitration is fair. Overall, consumers and employees come out as well, if not better, in arbitration than in the court system. net-ARB's online arbitrations are quick and convenient. Hearings last from a couple of days to a week or two depending on the complexity of the case and how quickly the parties submit their evidence. The arbitrator issues a binding, written decision within 2 business days of both parties resting their case.

Consumers and business people wanting to eliminate the chance of expensive litigation should favor "arbitration clauses" in contracts, particularly clauses which require arbitration through net-ARB, as are offered by members of our membership program. Members support net-ARB's mission to create a safer and fairer Internet by using binding arbitration when direct negotiation has failed. Members go the extra mile too, promising to pay costs as determined in arbitration.


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The Chief Justice of India has expressed concern over the inordinate delay in the dispensation of justice and the increasing cost of litigation. He said time had come to take effective steps to provide speedy and inexpensive justice to the people. In India, as in the USA, there's been an explosion in population but the number of courts has not kept pace with number of cases.

Online arbitration encourages international trade as it overcomes the geographical hurdles and judiciary restrictions to resolve any dispute while doing trade internationally.

net-ARB arbitrations are conducted in a fairer fashion than courts, especially when it comes to unusual procedures which might not be known to foreign litigants — no tricky motions for this, that or the other — so they make justice more accessible to businesses in every state and all over the world — fast. It allows parties to communicate electronically, thus it eliminates the need of in person meetings and hearings, regardless of time zones.

net-ARB arbitration enables companies to decrease reliance on lawyers because arbitration can be done without lawyers. Saving legal fees benefits everyone — except the lawyers.

Claimants outside the USA need no longer be discouraged by the prospect of high American legal fees: net-ARB is affordable at less than $100 per party; slightly more for a panel of 3 arbitrators.


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Judges are specialist lawyers. They don't have to know much about anything except the law. They might know a lot about legal tricks and technicalities however. Lay arbitrators are often specialists in something else, like the IT industry or engineering or buildings. net-ARB engages those same specialist and Internet-commerce arbitrators to ensure that your dispute is settled quickly and fairly, without resort to legal tricks.

Microsoft had a surprise win against Lucent Technologies back in April 2006 in a fight over a patent infringement suit. At the centre: Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console, and Lucent patent number 5,227,878, for "adaptive coding and decoding of frames and fields of video," Microsoft used the technology in the embedded MPEG-2 decoding capability within its Xbox 360 console. A previous suit filed by Microsoft in 2003 seeking a declaratory judgment of non-infringement was granted a summary judgment on a technicality due to a 'typo' in the patent. Lucent says it has corrected the error and received an official patent correction notice from the USPTO.

Under the procedural fairness rules of an arbitration, designed to prevent parties returning to re-litigate essentially the same facts, Microsoft could not have won on a technicality.

Recently, the Globe.com used phony MySpace accounts to send unsolicited commercial "MySpace e-messages" to MySpacers. According to depositions, the Globe.com sent over 400,000 messages from 95 dummy MySpace accounts. MySpace filed suit, alleging violations of anti-spam laws and violations of its Terms of Service. The Globe.com tried to win "on a technicality" by arguing that MySpace couldn't claim violations of the anti-spam laws because MySpace isn't an Internet Access Provider and "e-messages" aren't the same thing as "electronic messages." It lost, and was ordered to pay $5.5 million in damages. After the judge made this decision, the parties reached a private settlement of their disputes. Most likely The Globe.com threatened to appeal to a higher court unless MySpace agreed to take a lesser sum. No. 06-3391 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 27, 2007).

Given that the parties came to a private settlement anyway, I'm surprised that they didn't want to save time and money by going to arbitration in the first place.

More common technicalities which have lost court cases but which might in the interest of procedural fairness be overlooked by an arbitrator include those argued in four cases dear to law students across the USA: late responses to motion for summary judgment, failure to move to withdraw deemed admissions, or not knowing that an applicant has to show both good cause, and no undue prejudice when seeking to excuse a failure to follow the rules of pleading. An arbitrator is after a quick exchange of facts; not understanding the formal nature of a deposition or not having great English expression won't get in your way of getting justice. The four cases are Carpenter v. Cimarron Hydrocarbons Corp. 98 S.W.3d 682, 686 (Tex. 2002) Craddock v. Sunshine Bus Lines, 133 S.W.2d 124 (Tex. 1939). Stelly v. Papania, 927 S.W.2d 620, 622 (Tex. 1996) Wal?Mart Stores, Inc. v. Deggs, 968 S.W.2d 354, 357 (Tex. 1998), and to make matters worse, they may have been decided differently if they'd been argued in states of the USA, or even other parts of Texas where the Court Rules are different. Under the Texas Constitution, each of the 254 counties of the State has a single county court presided over by a county judge; each court generally has its own rules and it's common to be caught between one and the other — county courts in some counties have jurisdiction down to civil claims of $200; others don't.

No technicalities with arbitrations: if the parties agree, you can nominate any time frame, any form for facts and any amount. the net-ARB rules cover these comprehensively to guarantee a fair result.


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