3 ms·

I'm interested in this as well. My oral surgeon demanded that I sign an arbitration agreement before he would see me. What would happen if I had a problem with

by dcurtis 19y ago

I'm interested in this as well. My oral surgeon demanded that I sign an arbitration agreement before he would see me. What would happen if I had a problem with him? Also, should it be legal for someone to FORCE you to waive your rights before they will do business with you?

staunch 19y ago
You're not being forced, you can see a different oral sugeon if you want. Ultimately you do have a lot of rights that can't be signed away. Even if you sign something that's one-sided there's a good chance you could still get a fair shake with the assistance of a lawyer. IANAL
sarosh 19y ago
In the case of the oral surgeon, I'm going to assume that you sign the waiver which contains an arbitration clause. There are two likely outcomes: (1) if you elect to go to arbitration and are unhappy with the results and seek to challenge them in court, the state judge would likely rule against you [as a general proposition, state and federal judges do not give much legal weight to challenges to outcomes of arbitration proceedings] (2) if you elect to challenge the arbitration clause in the waiver itself without going through arbitration, depending on state law, you may (or may not) have a claim. For more information, ask your local attorney who should be happy to talk to you about it. As for should it be legal, please consult your state legislature or Congress. To parent post: arbitration is generally faster than litigation, but depending on the kind of contract involved my not yield the result you desire as arbitrators have a tendency to use the King Solomon approach and make sure each party gets something. Courts are hesitant to overturn arbitration determinations. Arbitration proceedings also allow evidence that would not be admissible in court and generally have less procedural rules. Most experienced or skilled arbitrators are former judges or lawyers. Also, make certain who will bear the arbitrator's fee before you begin. It can also take many days. It is probably best to have your position written down on paper to submit before hand, but it all depends on the individual arbitrator to whom you've been assigned. I've had the most experience with the American Arbitration Association, see http://www.adr.org/sp.asp?id=29157 http://www.adr.org/sp.asp?id=29157 They are happy to field questions.
- jamesbritt 19y ago
  Thanks for the info. I'm disappointed to hear of any "King Solomon" decisions because clients could make (in my view, obviously) extravagant claims and demands. Even if one can show that such claims are bogus, it's only useful if the arbitrator is more concerned with informed justice than in trying to make everyone equally (un)happy.

by dcurtis 19y ago

staunch 19y ago

You're not being forced, you can see a different oral sugeon if you want. Ultimately you do have a lot of rights that can't be signed away. Even if you sign something that's one-sided there's a good chance you could still get a fair shake with the assistance of a lawyer. IANAL

sarosh 19y ago

In the case of the oral surgeon, I'm going to assume that you sign the waiver which contains an arbitration clause. There are two likely outcomes: (1) if you elect to go to arbitration and are unhappy with the results and seek to challenge them in court, the state judge would likely rule against you [as a general proposition, state and federal judges do not give much legal weight to challenges to outcomes of arbitration proceedings] (2) if you elect to challenge the arbitration clause in the waiver itself without going through arbitration, depending on state law, you may (or may not) have a claim. For more information, ask your local attorney who should be happy to talk to you about it. As for should it be legal, please consult your state legislature or Congress. To parent post: arbitration is generally faster than litigation, but depending on the kind of contract involved my not yield the result you desire as arbitrators have a tendency to use the King Solomon approach and make sure each party gets something. Courts are hesitant to overturn arbitration determinations. Arbitration proceedings also allow evidence that would not be admissible in court and generally have less procedural rules. Most experienced or skilled arbitrators are former judges or lawyers. Also, make certain who will bear the arbitrator's fee before you begin. It can also take many days. It is probably best to have your position written down on paper to submit before hand, but it all depends on the individual arbitrator to whom you've been assigned. I've had the most experience with the American Arbitration Association, see http://www.adr.org/sp.asp?id=29157 http://www.adr.org/sp.asp?id=29157 They are happy to field questions.

jamesbritt 19y ago
Thanks for the info. I'm disappointed to hear of any "King Solomon" decisions because clients could make (in my view, obviously) extravagant claims and demands. Even if one can show that such claims are bogus, it's only useful if the arbitrator is more concerned with informed justice than in trying to make everyone equally (un)happy.