Arbitration

Arbitration  consists  of  the  submission  of  a dispute to one or more impartial individuals for a final,
binding  and  enforceable  decision.  The parties control  the scope  and range of issues to be finally
resolved  by  means  of arbitration,  the precise scope of the relief and remedies to be awarded and many
of the procedural aspects of the process.

The   arbitrator’s   decision -or award- is   made   in   writing   and   is,   under   most  circumstances,
enforceable  in  court  under  state  and  federal  statutes  and  in  the  case  of  foreign awards under
international treaties.

The   most   important   reasons  for  resorting  to  arbitration,  as  an  alternative  to  protracted  court
proceedings,  is  the  aim  for  simplified commencement of proceedings, service process neutrality,
facilitated  and  flexible  taking  of  evidence, the expectation for expeditious issuance of a ruling – or
award-, confidentiality and simplified and expedited enforcement.

Among  the  advantages  of  retaining  the arbitration services of The Souffront Group vis-à-vis  court
dispute resolution are:

• ability to limit or even exclude the jurisdiction of the courts over the adjudication of the dispute;
  
•  prospect of an “equitable playing field”;
  
• neutral sites and neutral substantive law;
  
• consensually agreed-upon procedural rules;
  
• greater informality and flexibility of the proceedings;
  
• tailoring of the procedure to the particular parties and dispute;
  
• in  the  international  context,  ample  opportunity  for  combining  civil- and common-law
  approaches to evidence and other issues;
  
• simplified mechanisms of commencement and service of process;
  
• expedited proceedings;
  
• presumption of confidentiality of awards; and
  
• predictability of costs.