Arbitration, National

Arbitration is a form of dispute resolution in which parties agree to submit their dispute to one or more neutrals to conduct a hearing and render a decision on the merits. People have used many varieties of arbitration procedures in different settings. In commercial disputes, trade associations or industry-specific groups, who have industry-specific procedures for the resolution of disputes between members of the trade, often conduct arbitrations. In labor-management relations, parties often create arbitration in the course of collective bargaining and can call for a single neutral umpire or a panel of arbitrators to resolve all disputes that might arise during the life of the agreement.

Some arbitration procedures are extremely informal, permitting parties to present their cases without any constraints from rules of evidence or ...