Arbitration Award, Clause, and Agreement: Three Words You Should Understand
Three arbitration words trip people up: award, clause, and agreement. Here's each one in plain English.
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Dispute Resolution Dictionary
Every term you'll hit in a business dispute — arbitration, mediation, discovery, damages, and the rest — explained in plain English by a lawyer who's tired of the jargon.
55 terms · sorted A–Z
Binding vs. Non-Binding: What It Really Means When You Settle a Dispute
Binding means final and enforceable. Non-binding means only a deal if you agree. Here's why the difference decides your risk.
Read definition →Breach of Contract, Explained Without the Legalese
A breach of contract just means someone broke a promise they put in writing. Here's what it takes to prove one, and what you can actually get.
Read definition →Choose, Investigate, Resolve: The Three-Step Way to End a Dispute
Ending a business dispute doesn't need two years and two armies of lawyers. It needs three steps. Here they are.
Read definition →Collaborative Investigation: Solving a Dispute by Looking at the Facts Together
A collaborative investigation is when both sides look at the same facts together instead of fighting over them. Here's why that ends disputes fastest.
Read definition →Commercial Disputes: What They Are and How They Usually End
Commercial dispute is just a fancy name for a business dispute over money. Here's what they cost, how long they take, and how nearly all of them actually end.
Read definition →Commercial Landlord–Tenant Disputes, Explained
A business lease fight is not like an apartment fight. Here's how commercial landlord-tenant disputes really work, and the faster way to end one.
Read definition →Contract Disputes: The Most Common Business Dispute There Is
Most business disputes come down to a contract. Here's what they really are, why they happen, and the faster way to settle them.
Read definition →Do You Actually Need a Lawyer for This? (An Honest Answer)
I was a lawyer for forty years, so I'll tell you the part we don't advertise: a lot of the time you don't need one.
Read definition →Early Neutral Evaluation: Getting a Straight Answer Before You Litigate
Before you spend a fortune fighting, you can pay one expert to tell you how strong your case really is, and that answer can save you a year.
Read definition →Employment Disputes: A Careful Look at a Tricky Category
Employment disputes have special rules and protected rights, so here's an honest look at where a neutral fits and where you need a lawyer early.
Read definition →Facilitated Negotiation: A Referee for Your Conversation
Sometimes a deal is stuck not because the money is wrong, but because two people can't talk to each other anymore. Here's the plain version of the fix.
Read definition →Fast-Track Arbitration: What 'Expedited' Really Buys You
Expedited arbitration is faster than the regular kind, but 'faster' is a relative word, and I'll tell you what it actually saves.
Read definition →Fixed-Price Dispute Resolution: Knowing the Bill Before You Start
Most legal work is sold with no price tag. Here's why a flat fee changes how you think about a fight, and where it fits.
Read definition →Hourly Legal Fees vs. a Flat Fee: The Difference in Your Wallet
The two ways lawyers charge lead to very different bills. Here's how each one works and which risk you're really taking on.
Read definition →How to Avoid a Lawsuit When a Deal Goes Bad
A soured deal doesn't have to become a lawsuit. Here's what I tell people to do in the first weeks, when it's still cheap to fix.
Read definition →How to Avoid Litigation: A Lawyer's Honest Advice
Litigation is the formal court process, and it's slower and costlier than people expect. Here's how it works and how to stay out of it.
Read definition →How to Figure Out What a Lawsuit Will Really Cost You
The legal bill is only part of the price of a lawsuit. Here's a simple way to add up the whole thing before you decide.
Read definition →How to Save on Legal Costs Without Getting Burned
I billed by the hour for forty years, so I know exactly where the money leaks and which cheap moves will cost you later.
Read definition →International Arbitration: Cross-Border Disputes, Explained Simply
When two companies in different countries clash, whose court do they use? Neither. Here's how international arbitration works, in plain words.
Read definition →IP Disputes: Who Owns the Ideas, Names, and Work
IP fights are about who owns an idea, a name, or a piece of work. Here's how they really go, and why they're often more fixable than they feel.
Read definition →Is the Decision Actually Enforceable? What 'Enforceable' Means
A decision in your favor is just paper until you can make it stick, so here's what 'enforceable' really means in plain words.
Read definition →Keeping a Dispute Private: Confidential Resolution Explained
Court is public by default, and most people don't know it until it's too late; here's how to keep a business dispute out of the open.
Read definition →Liability, Explained: Who Owes What, and Why
Liability is a heavy-sounding word for a simple idea: being on the hook. Here's what it means, the main flavors, and how it plays out in a real dispute.
Read definition →Med-Arb and Arb-Med: Two Hybrids, Explained Simply
These two ugly names hide a simple idea: try to agree first, but have a way to force an answer if you can't.
Read definition →NDAs and Confidentiality Agreements, in Plain English
An NDA is a promise to keep a secret, written down so it can be enforced. Simple idea, and people still sign them without reading. Here's what to watch for.
Read definition →Partnership Disputes: When Business Partners Stop Agreeing
A fight between partners is personal, and that makes it dangerous. Here's how these disputes work and a calmer way through.
Read definition →Payment and Invoice Disputes: When You Did the Work and Didn't Get Paid
You did the job. You sent the invoice. Now they won't pay. Here's what's really going on, and the cheapest way to get your money.
Read definition →Private Judge, or 'Rent-a-Judge': What It Is and What It Costs
In some states you can hire a retired judge to decide your case privately. It's real, it's legal, and it's expensive. Here's the honest breakdown.
Read definition →Shareholder Disputes: When Owners of a Company Clash
When the people who own a company stop agreeing, it gets ugly fast. Here's how shareholder fights work and how to end one without burning the company down.
Read definition →Small Claims Court: What It's Good For and Where It Stops
Small claims court is the one part of the legal system built for normal people. Here's what it does well, and the ceiling that stops it cold.
Read definition →The $10k to $1M Problem: Disputes Too Big for Small Claims, Too Small for Court
There's a huge gap between small claims and a real lawsuit, and most business disputes fall right into it with nowhere good to go.
Read definition →The Arbitration Clause in Your Contract: Read It Before You Sign
There's a paragraph in most contracts that quietly signs away your right to a courtroom. Most people never read it. Here's what it says and why it matters.
Read definition →The Cure for the Common Lawsuit
Most business lawsuits are like a bad cold: painful, slow, and not worth the drugs. Here's the cure I found.
Read definition →The Dispute Resolution Clause: The Most Important Paragraph You Never Read
Every contract has a paragraph that decides how a future fight gets handled. It's boring to read and it can save you a year of your life. Here's how to read it.
Read definition →The Real Cost Per Dispute (Add Up Everything, Not Just the Legal Bill)
The legal invoice is the cost people see. Here's the full cost of one dispute, including the parts nobody puts on a bill.
Read definition →Time to Resolution: How Long Disputes Actually Take
Time is a cost, and lawsuits spend a lot of it. Here's an honest look at how long each path really takes.
Read definition →Vendor and Supplier Disputes: When the Goods or the Payment Go Wrong
Vendor fights are usually about goods that fell short or money that didn't arrive. Here's how they work and how to end them fast.
Read definition →What 'Damages' Means, and How They're Actually Calculated
Damages is just the legal word for the money one side owes the other to make up for harm. The hard part isn't the idea. It's the number.
Read definition →What 'Good Faith' Means in a Contract (and Why It Matters)
Good faith is one of those legal phrases that sounds soft but has real teeth. It means playing fair, and courts take it seriously. Here's the plain version.
Read definition →What a Dispute Investigation Is, and Why It Ends Disputes Faster
A dispute investigation is when one fair person digs into the facts instead of two sides fighting over them. Here's why that ends things faster.
Read definition →What a Neutral Arbiter Is (and Why One Beats Two Lawyers)
A neutral arbiter is one fair expert who decides your dispute. Here's why one beats two lawyers fighting.
Read definition →What a Notice of Dispute Is, and How to Write One
A notice of dispute is a plain letter that says there's a problem. Here's what goes in one, and how to write it.
Read definition →What a Settlement Really Is (and Why Most Cases End in One)
A settlement is just a deal to stop fighting. Almost every case ends in one. Here's why, and why waiting so long to reach it costs you.
Read definition →What an Ombudsman Does, in Plain English
It's a strange old word for a simple job: a neutral person inside an organization whose whole role is to hear complaints and help fix them quietly.
Read definition →What Counts as a Business Dispute (and What to Do First)
A business dispute is just a fight over money or a promise between two companies. Here's how to spot one early and the first thing to do.
Read definition →What Is Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)?
ADR is every way to settle a fight that isn't a lawsuit. Here's the plain map of what's in that box.
Read definition →What Is Arbitration? A Lawyer Explains It in Plain English
Arbitration gets sold as the cheap, fast alternative to court. Sometimes it is. Often it isn't. Here's the honest version from someone who's done a lot of them.
Read definition →What Is Conciliation, and How Is It Different From Mediation?
Conciliation is mediation's more hands-on cousin. Here's the real difference, in plain words.
Read definition →What Is Discovery, and Why It Makes Lawsuits So Expensive
Discovery is the part of a lawsuit where each side has to hand over its documents. It's also where most of the money and time disappear. Here's why.
Read definition →What Is JAMS, and How Does It Compare?
JAMS is the other big name in private dispute resolution. Here's what it does, how it stacks up against the AAA, and where a flat-fee process wins.
Read definition →What Is Mediation? A Plain-English Guide
Mediation is a fair helper guiding both sides to their own deal. Here's the honest version, and where it falls short.
Read definition →What Is Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)?
ODR is just settling a dispute over the internet instead of in a room, and for a lot of fights that's genuinely better.
Read definition →What Is the AAA (American Arbitration Association)?
The AAA is the biggest name in American arbitration. Here's what it actually does, what it costs, and where a leaner process beats it.
Read definition →What Neutral-Driven Resolution Is, and Why I Stopped Filing Lawsuits
I'm a lawyer. For forty years I fought cases in court. Here's the plain-English version of the thing I do now instead, and why it works better for most business disputes.
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