More on Arbitration Agreements

We have previously brought you updates on the area of law involving arbitration agreements. As you may recall (or already know), contracts can contain clauses or provisions which require the parties to submit to arbitration if a dispute arises about the contact. While the debate on whether these clauses are a good idea rages on, the Ohio Supreme Court continues to issue opinions on how these arbitration provisions work. In its most recent opinion, the Court, in Mynes v. Brooks, 2009-Ohio-5946, held that if one party sues another over a contact which has an arbitration provision, and one party to that lawsuit files a motion to have the lawsuit suspended so that arbitration can resolve the dispute, either the "non-moving" party or the "moving" party has the right to appeal that decision immediately. Essentially, that means that the neither the moving party or the non-moving party has to wait until the whole lawsuit is over in order to present their issue to the court of appeals. In short, this has the net effect of potentially making the whole litigation process longer - rather than shorter as intended by the arbitration concept. Businesses and individuals have to seriously consider the practical effect of these arbitration provisions when signing a contract.