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Q: Do businesses prevail over consumers more often in arbitration than they do in court?
A: The FORUM issues decisions based on the substantive law in order to provide the same resolutions to disputes that an individual or business would find in court. And while it is extremely difficult to compare the win/loss results of arbitration to the win/loss results of litigation (as the types of disputes submitted to arbitration and litigation may vary), the consensus of published empirical studies is that individuals fare just as well as businesses in arbitration, if not better¹. A 2003 American Bar Association study of employment arbitration found that claimants prevailed more often and received larger awards in arbitration than in litigation². Refer to the FORUM’s compilation Empirical Studies and Survey Results for more statistical evidence and information.


¹ Mark Fellows, "The Same Result as in Court, More Efficiently: Comparing Arbitration and Court Litigation Outcomes", 14 Metropolitan Corp. Counsel 32 (2006).

² Michael Delikat and Morris M. Kleiner, “Comparing Litigation And Arbitration Of Employment Disputes: Do Plaintiffs Better Vindicate Their Rights In Litigation?,” Conflict Management, American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Vol. VI, Issue 3, Winter 2003.