A powerful new tool exists for companies seeking quick, efficient, and private resolution of business disputes. The Delaware Rapid Arbitration Act (DRAA), 10 Del. C. § 5801 et seq., enacted in April 2015, streamlines the process for initiating arbitrations, sets tight deadlines for concluding them, automatically confirms arbitration awards and provides speedy resolution of any challenges directly to the Delaware Supreme Court. How does it do this? Here's a teaser: Among other things, it imposes financial penalties on the arbitrator if a final decision is not issued within 120 days of commencement.

First, though, rest assured that, despite its name, the DRAA is relevant to you as a Georgia attorney. The act is available for almost any commercial dispute involving at least one business entity organized under the commonly used jurisdiction of Delaware or with its principal place of business in Delaware. The arbitration can be held anywhere, administered by any institution (or no institution at all), and the only limitation on the governing law is that the arbitration agreement itself (not the entire contract) be governed by Delaware law.

The relatively non-Delaware-centric act is meant to reclaim the speed and efficiency originally promised by the arbitration process. It still gives parties significant latitude in drafting arbitration provisions, but tempers that freedom with selected default and mandatory provisions to ensure the act's overarching goals are not lost.