Arbitration has long been a preferred method for companies hoping to litigate their claims quickly, quietly and cheaply, and the popularity of venues like the American Arbitration Association and JAMS have only increased since the onset of the pandemic, when courts were hobbled coast to coast.

But several commercial litigators say they are increasingly fielding questions from clients who seem more eager to take their disputes into the public court system rather than through the binding and confidential arbitration system, representing something of a departure from the business world's typically preferred method for sorting out disputes.