Dispute resolution: a trial lawyer's perspective

During this year's IFA Legal Symposium, the author had the privilege of moderating a plenary session panel discussion entitled Franchise Dispute Resolution: The Judge's, Arbitrator's and Mediator's Perspective. The author was personally eager to learn from the panelists' perspectives on the various topics to be discussed, including the comparative benefits and drawbacks of arbitration and litigation; the optimal ways to structure a franchise arbitration; the real world importance of contract terms in deciding case outcomes, and the approaches to case presentation that juries, judges, arbitrators and mediators generally find most appealing. The views of franchisors, franchisees and their lawyers concerning the respective pros and cons of arbitration and litigation are often the product of reflex, not reflection. Every dispute has its own emotional architecture, derived from the personality, character and behavior of the key actors on each side, which inevitably has a powerful influence on jurors, judges and arbitrators and thus on case outcomes.