ADR

Arbitration is often preferred by contesting parties for many reasons. These may include speed, procedural or evidentiary requirements, decisions by arbitrators with special expertise, no public disclosure of the existence of a dispute or information relating to it, and avoidance of the appellate process. Indeed, careful counsel will assure that all of these issues are considered and incorporated into an arbitration agreement.

After the award is issued, however, the successful party will often petition to have it judicially confirmed by entering it in the court records, essentially as it would any other order of a court. When the award has been recorded on the court's docket, however, does the general public then have access to it as it would to any other court document; and will such access undermine the original desire of the parties to keep confidential, information relating to the arbitration including, in particular, the ultimate result?