The parties to commercial agreements can contractually agree that dispute resolution shall occur before an arbitral tribunal, rather than in a public court of law.
This approach is commonplace in major commercial agreements in respect of, for example, construction contract law and transactions in both national and international disputes. The arbitral tribunal can comprise a single arbitrator but can also comprise three arbitrators of whom either party may choose one arbitrator. The third arbitrator is appointed by the two arbitrators chosen by the parties. Here at Landahl, we have in-depth industry expertise in matters heard by arbitral tribunals and are regularly engaged as arbitrators, whether as the chairperson, a party’s appointee, or a sole arbitrator.
Contractually agreeing to resolve a dispute by means of an arbitral tribunal can be advantageous in that arbitral tribunal is not a public institution, which means that external parties or companies are
unable to obtain information about the dispute or the arbitration proceedings other than via the parties. It can also be advantageous in that the arbitration proceedings are considerably quicker than the alternative in a public court of law in that the starting point for the arbitral tribunal’s hearing of the case is that it shall be conducted expeditiously.
Landahl also has experience of handling re-examination and valuation proceedings in accordance with the construction industry’s standard agreements and, in this context, acting as members of there-examination or valuation tribunal.