Arbitration Attorneys for Claimants and Respondents
We represent individuals and businesses in arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association (AAA), JAMS and National Arbitration and Mediation (NAM): consumer and financial-services disputes, employment and executive matters, cybercrime and account-takeover claims, Stripe and fintech disputes, founder and shareholder conflicts, construction and commercial contracts. Counsel of record in more than 130 arbitrations, handling complex matters since 2019.
Arbitration is not court. The first thirty days shape the outcome.
Most arbitrations begin with a clause nobody read closely: in a customer agreement, an employment offer, a payment-platform terms of service, a founders’ agreement or a construction contract. By the time a dispute is real, the forum, the rules and the deadlines are already fixed.
Those rules reward early decisions. The arbitrator is chosen from a list within days of filing. Discovery is narrower than in court and must be requested with precision. Confidentiality depends on a protective order that someone has to negotiate. And an award is only paper until it is confirmed by a court and collected.
We handle each of those steps for the party bringing the claim and for the party defending it. The same experience that helps a claimant build a case tells a respondent where the claim is weak.
Both sides of the table.
Arbitration work is the same craft whether you filed the demand or received it. Knowing how the other side prepares is the advantage.
You were harmed and the contract says arbitrate.
Consumers, investors, employees, founders, merchants, contractors and businesses pursuing money damages, declaratory relief or emergency measures. We evaluate the clause, prepare the demand, assemble the evidence and experts, and push the case to hearing or a resolution that reflects its value.
You received a demand and the clock is running.
Employers, companies, platforms, contractors, fiduciaries and individuals named in a demand. We answer on time, assert counterclaims where warranted, challenge arbitrability and jurisdiction when the record supports it, control the scope of discovery, and defend at hearing.
The disputes that end up in arbitration.
Mandatory arbitration clauses now sit in most consumer financial, employment, platform and construction agreements. These are the categories we handle most.
Consumer & Financial Services
Bank, card, lending, brokerage, insurance and telecom disputes under consumer arbitration rules, including fee-shifting and mass-filing issues.
Employment & Executive
Compensation, bonus and equity claims, wrongful termination, discrimination and retaliation, restrictive covenants and separation disputes.
Cybercrime & Account Takeover
SIM-swap, account-takeover and unauthorized-transfer claims against carriers, exchanges, banks and platforms whose agreements require arbitration.
Stripe, Payment Platforms & Fintech
Frozen balances, reserves, account closures, MATCH listings, chargeback disputes and processor agreements that route merchants to AAA arbitration.
Founder, Partner & Shareholder
Equity splits, vesting, buyouts, breach of fiduciary duty, operating and shareholder agreements, and startup investor disputes.
Construction & Real Estate
Payment, delay, defect and change-order disputes under AAA Construction and JAMS Engineering and Construction rules; purchase and brokerage contracts.
Commercial, Technology & Insurance
Vendor, SaaS and AI-service contracts, licensing, distribution, insurance coverage and other business-to-business claims under commercial rules.
Where disputes are actually being decided.
Published provider data shows how much of American dispute resolution now runs through arbitration, and which categories dominate.
Financial services was the most common consumer dispute type filed with the AAA in 2025, with nearly three times the filings of the next category, vehicle sales and leases. 9,419 single consumer cases were filed; 57 percent of consumer cases closed that year settled.
Harassment, wage and hour, wrongful termination and workplace safety claims dominate AAA employment filings. The median time to award was 17 months for cases closed in 2025, and 77 percent settled before an award.
Healthcare, legal services, financial services, commercial insurance and energy are among the largest AAA business caseloads. For large, complex cases filed in 2025 the median claim was $3 million, and 52 percent of business cases closed that year settled before award.
Construction remains one of the AAA’s core caseloads, with more than 1,170 construction panelists and a largest single claim of $514 million in 2025. Delay, defect, payment and change-order disputes are the recurring themes.
Sources: American Arbitration Association (2025 caseload); AAA, Consumer Arbitration Services; AAA, Employment and Workplace; AAA, Commercial Dispute Resolution; AAA, Consumer Disputes Explained (2025); AAA, Resolving B2B Disputes; AAA, Construction Dispute Resolution; JAMS, About. The federal court figure is the 2025 median time to trial in U.S. District Court as reported by the AAA.
Every stage, from the clause to the collected award.
Case strategy and exposure analysis
Before filing or answering, we assess arbitrability, forum rules, fee allocation, likely remedies and collectability. A respondent learns what the claim is really worth; a claimant learns what it will take to prove.
Arbitrator selection
Providers appoint from a list on a short clock. We research each candidate’s background, published awards and disclosures, rank and strike strategically, and raise disqualification where the record warrants it.
Protective orders and confidentiality
We negotiate protective orders that define confidential and attorneys’-eyes-only material, govern forensic and financial records, and address how generative-AI tools may be used with case materials.
Expert witnesses across industries
We draw on a network of forensic accountants, damages analysts, cybersecurity and authentication specialists, payments and compliance professionals, construction engineers and compensation experts, retained to fit the case.
Emergency and interim relief
Where assets or evidence are at risk, we move for emergency measures under the provider rules or in court, including orders to preserve records and restrain transfers while the arbitration proceeds.
Award enforcement and collection
An award becomes a judgment only after confirmation. We confirm awards in state or federal court, oppose motions to vacate, and pursue collection through asset discovery, restraining notices, liens and turnover proceedings.
AAA, JAMS, NAM and beyond.
Each provider has its own rules, fee schedules, list procedures and deadlines. We practice under all of them, and in the courts that compel, stay, confirm and vacate.
AAA / ICDR
Commercial, Consumer, Employment/Workplace and Construction rules; Large, Complex Case Procedures; emergency measures; international cases through the ICDR.
AAA rules libraryJAMS
Comprehensive and Streamlined Arbitration Rules, Employment Arbitration Rules, Engineering and Construction rules, and JAMS consumer minimum standards.
JAMS rules and proceduresNAM
Comprehensive Dispute Resolution Rules and Employment Rules, used increasingly in consumer, telecom, fintech and employment agreements nationwide.
NAM rules, fees and formsWe also appear in ad hoc arbitrations, before industry panels, and in federal and state court proceedings under the Federal Arbitration Act, including motions to compel, stay, confirm and vacate.
Winning is the midpoint. Collecting is the goal.
Confirm the award
Under the Federal Arbitration Act, a party may apply to confirm an award within one year, and the court must grant the order unless the award is vacated, modified or corrected. We file promptly and in the right court.
Defeat or bring a challenge
Grounds to vacate are narrow and the notice period is three months after the award is delivered. We defend awards against late or unsupported challenges, and bring them when the record shows real misconduct or excess of power.
Enter judgment and locate assets
A confirmed award is entered as a judgment with the same force as any court judgment. We use post-judgment discovery, subpoenas and public records to identify bank accounts, receivables, real property and digital assets.
Collect, here and abroad
Restraining notices, levies, liens and turnover proceedings in New York; domestication of judgments in other states; and recognition of foreign awards under the New York Convention, which courts must confirm absent a treaty-based ground for refusal.
Statutory references: 9 U.S.C. § 9 (confirmation); 9 U.S.C. § 10 (vacatur); 9 U.S.C. § 12 (three-month notice); 9 U.S.C. § 13 (judgment); 9 U.S.C. § 207 (foreign awards).
The right expert for the dispute at hand.
Complex arbitrations are decided on evidence. We retain and prepare experts matched to the industry and the facts.
Forensic accounting and damages
Lost profits, valuation, tracing of funds, equity and compensation modeling in founder, shareholder and employment disputes.
Cybersecurity and authentication
Carrier and platform controls, log analysis, SIM-swap and account-takeover reconstruction, incident response standards.
Payments and fintech compliance
Card network rules, processor reserve practices, chargeback handling, MATCH listings and merchant underwriting.
Construction and engineering
Delay and disruption analysis, defect causation, cost-to-complete and change-order evaluation.
Employment and compensation
Pay-equity, bonus and equity-plan analysis, labor-market and mitigation testimony.
Industry-specific specialists
Technology, healthcare, insurance, real estate, digital assets and other sectors as the matter requires.
Deadlines start the day the demand arrives.
The arbitrator list, the answer and the evidence all run on the provider’s clock, not yours.
- Calendar the answer date and the arbitrator-list return date
- Preserve emails, messages, logs, contracts, payment records and devices
- Pull the full agreement, including incorporated terms and amendments
- Notify insurers whose policies may respond
- Call counsel before responding to the provider or the other side
- Let the list deadline pass; the provider will appoint without you
- Write to the claimant or case manager without a strategy
- Delete accounts, data or communications, even routine ones
- Assume fee allocation works the way it does in court
- Treat a consumer or employment demand as small; fee-shifting changes the math
Read before you file or respond.
Plain-language guides on how arbitration actually works, written for the parties who have to live with the result. For carrier and exchange cases, see our cybercrime arbitration and crypto exchange arbitration pages.
Hiring an Arbitration Lawyer for a Complex Dispute.
What to ask before you retain counsel, what the provider rules require, and how early decisions shape the award.
Read the guideBusiness Arbitration Under AAA, JAMS and NAM Rules.
Forum differences, arbitrator lists, discovery limits and dispositive motions in commercial cases.
Read the articleStripe Disputes: Takeovers, Shutdowns and Collections.
Frozen balances, closed accounts and the arbitration clause that governs merchant claims.
Read the articleFrequently asked.
If a valid agreement covers the dispute, courts generally enforce it under the Federal Arbitration Act and will stay or dismiss a lawsuit in favor of arbitration. Whether the clause is valid, whether it reaches your claims and who decides those questions depend on its wording and the governing law. We review the agreement first and advise before anything is filed.
It depends on the rules and the type of case. In consumer and employment matters administered by the AAA, JAMS or NAM, the business typically bears most of the administrative and arbitrator fees. In commercial cases, fees are usually shared and may be reallocated in the award. Many contracts and statutes also allow attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party.
Most providers send the parties a list of qualified neutrals. Each side strikes unacceptable names and ranks the rest within a short deadline, and the provider appoints the highest mutual choice. If a party misses the deadline, the provider appoints from the list without that party’s input. Researching candidates before the list arrives is part of our preparation.
Provider rules keep hearings private, but confidentiality of documents and testimony is not automatic. A negotiated protective order, entered by the arbitrator, is what actually restricts how evidence can be used and shared, including with generative-AI tools. We treat the protective order as a priority item, not a formality.
Published AAA data for cases closed in 2025 shows a median time to award of 18.7 months for business cases over $1 million and 17 months for employment cases, with most cases settling before award. Timelines vary with the forum, the number of parties and the amount of discovery. We set a realistic schedule at the outset and manage toward it.
An award is not self-executing. We petition a court to confirm it, which converts it into an enforceable judgment. From there, collection tools include restraining notices, bank levies, liens, turnover orders and, where assets are abroad, recognition under the New York Convention. We assess collectability before the case begins so that the strategy accounts for it.
Yes. We defend companies, employers, platforms, contractors and individuals named as respondents, including in consumer and employment demands where fee exposure matters as much as the merits. Our claimant-side experience shows us where a demand is overstated and where it is not.
Talk to an arbitration attorney today.
Whether you are preparing a demand or just received one, the next decision affects the outcome. Call us or request a confidential consultation.