I. Introduction
I was crestfallen after my first arbitration. Here I was, on my own finally: “Eddy on the case.” I had total creative control…I had a defense-minded arbitrator…I felt comfortable during the process. I was a regular Clarence Darrow in there. And then the result came back: a decision in the Plaintiff’s favor.
I had taken an “L” as the kids say, or so I thought. I sheepishly reported the result to my client via email, only for him to respond with a level of enthusiasm I had not seen from him to that point in time, “Eddy, that is a fabulous result!” Huh?
As I would come to learn, losing a little in arbitrator is a win. Huh?? Well, see, the result was well below the demand, and yet high enough that a de novo trial (appeal) was unlikely. The ol’ sweet spot. This was a win! Yay….
Oh well, that was unpleasant, but hey, at least arbitration is rare in my practice, right? Wrong. Arbitration was rare in my practice—my practice of mostly personal injury/premises liability defense cases—but now it is considerably less so. Why? Well, because in arbitration the plaintiffs’ bar has found its truly beloved. Are you telling me there’s a forum where I don’t have to do any discovery; the defense can’t take a summary judgment against me; I am almost certain to get money and the whole thing takes a fraction of the time? Sign me up brother!
The cat is out of the bag. The jig is up. Whatever one wants to say. Arbitration is having its moment in the COVID era, and largely at the expense of us defense folks. But fear not, all hope is not lost; Eddy is on the case!
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