It’s a great question. A lawsuit and an arbitration are similar. They’re a way that somebody will ultimately decide your case whether it’s a judge or a jury and that would be a lawsuit like you see on TV or an arbitrator. An arbitrator is a private party usually an attorney, sometimes a retired judge who will hear all the evidence and make a decision just like a judge. It is just as binding as if you were in trial. You only get to arbitrate if both parties have agreed in writing to do so or if all parties to the dispute have agreed in writing to do so. One party can’t agree to arbitrate and force the other party into it, it doesn’t work that way.

Mediation is settlement. Every civil lawsuit, a lawsuit about money in Minnesota ends up in a mediation at some point in time because the judge’s order it. And hopefully, that mediated process ends up in a settlement that people can live with.