Most Missouri business owners face one or more business disputes during their careers, and while some of these disputes may prove easy to rectify, others may take quite a bit of time and money away from your business’s day-to-day operations. Many people embroiled in business-related disagreements choose to resolve them using similar methods.
According to Harvard Law School, you may want to use one of the following processes to attempt to resolve your business dispute.
Mediation
The first thing you may want to try to resolve a business dispute is working with an unbiased third party to mediate it. In mediation, a mediator who has no horse in the race hears opposing sides and then issues his or her opinion about how to resolve things. The opinion is just that, though, meaning it is not legally binding.
Arbitration
Arbitration also involves you and your opposition working with a third party. However, in arbitration, the third party is an arbitrator, and his or her decision is legally binding. The process of arbitration typically remains confidential, and an arbitrator’s decision is final, meaning neither side may appeal it.
Litigation
Sometimes, matters become too contentious for mediation or arbitration to prove effective. In this case, opposing sides may have no other option than to fight it out in a traditional courtroom environment. Litigation tends to be public, so if you are trying to maintain privacy, you may want to consider other options, first.
The type of dispute resolution method you choose impacts everything from how much of a role attorneys play to how much your dispute winds up costing you.
