Commercial arbitration is an adjudication process that is generally intended to be a cost efficient, expeditious and less combative alternative to court litigation. Most commercial arbitrations evolve from a formal written agreement between parties to commercial transactions, which include an arbitration clause. Unfortunately, the arbitration clause is often relegated to the “boiler plate” which is not given much attention by parties or their counsel…and that lack of attention may lead to unfortunate results.

This CLE program will be presented in two parts by business law specialist Richard Waxman. Mr. Waxman is uniquely qualified to present this course since: (1) in his early litigation career he represented many parties in litigated arbitration proceedings; (2) throughout his career he has written hundreds of agreements which include arbitration clauses; and (3) he currently serves as neutral arbitrator for more than 10 cases per year, following his arbitrator certification from the NYS Bar Association and American Arbitration Association join certification training program.

The initial portion of his presentation will be an over-view of the commercial arbitration process and arbitration clauses. That will be followed by a focused “nuts and bolts” discussion” of ways to draft arbitration clauses intended to avoid runaway procedures and legal fees.