ARBITRATION:

sample med-arb agreement

This sample is from a civil contract case (sale of goods). The contracts between the parties provided for mediation-arbitration in the bald terms, simply that they would take any dispute between them to mediation and, if mediation failed, to arbitration. My appointment was made on consent without the necessity for a Court order.

These parties wanted a process that was straightforward and inexpensive. They were confident that the case would settle in mediation, so they did not provide a detailed procedure for the arbitration in their med-arb agreement -- they hoped they would never have to flesh out the procedure because they would never get to arbitration. The agreement includes their promise to develop their procedure in detail later. The reader may wish to compare this agreement with the sample arbitration agreement on this site, in which the parties set out the detailed procedure they agreed upon for their arbitration.

As discussed on the "Med-Arb" page of this site, it is a common practice for parties to name the same professional to act as both mediator and arbitrator under a med-arb agreement.

Notwithstanding my misgivings about the such appointments, I agreed to serve in that fashion in the case from which I have taken this sample. The reader may wish to review my critique of that practice, on the "Med-Arb" page of this site in the section "who will act as mediator and arbitrator?"

Caution: This contract came from a real case. Provisions such as those relating to jurisdiction, hearing procedure (in this case, none but a promise to develop the procedure later), appeal & finality and offers to settle, represent the particular choices of the Parties to this agreement, the circumstances of which may bear no relation to yours. Therefore, if you make reference to this sample as a precedent, take care to review it and make revisions as necessary to address the particular facts of your case and the law applicable to those facts.

Click above to download my
sample mediation-arbitration agreement