How Arbitration May Settle Your Seattle Car Accident Case

The last opportunity to settle a case before going to trial is through a process called "arbitration." I believe that this is one of the best options for settling a case, because it can get you a good settlement without the cost of having to go to trial. When dealing with Washington auto accidents, there is a procedure called mandatory arbitration, which allows us to compel the defense (the other insurance company) to go to arbitration. This is basically like a mini trial presided over by a third party attorney. The only qualifying factor for mandatory arbitration is that the damages the victim is seeking is less than $50,000. Arbitration acts as a reality check for both sides as the attorney hearing the case ultimately decides whether or not to award money to the plaintiff. This allows both sides to see if their case had flaws in it that they may not have noticed before, without the cost of trying it in court.

The final arbitration verdict is not necessarily the final step, though. If a side is unhappy with the verdict, they have the ability to appeal it so the case can be tried in court. By filing for what is known as a "trial de novo," the case will be pulled out of arbitration, and put back on the schedule to be heard in court. While this may seem to make arbitration pointless, it is not. A side will most likely not drag on the case to trial, because there is a major disincentive in place to do so. The side that appeals must improve their case in court, or else they are forced to pay the attorneys fees for the other side from the time of the appeal to the case verdict. Trial can be very expensive, so the side that appeals has to be sure that their case will see a better result in trial. This means that if we take your case to arbitration and win, but the other side appeals, you won't have to pay us a dime if they do not receive a better result in court. Due to the high costs involved with taking a case to court, appealing an arbitration decision is pretty rare.

With a strong and well developed case that does not exceed $50,000 in damages; mandatory arbitration is a very good move to get you the money you deserve. There are higher risks and costs involved when a case goes to court, and while trial should always be kept open as an option, the best way to resolve your case may very well be through arbitration.

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