Commercial disputes today are more complex, more frequent, and harder to manage.
For businesses, disputes don’t just create legal risk. They affect operations, decision-making, and timelines. As volume increases, even minor disputes can cause significant disruption.
Jennifer Bailey, a former judge who spent 31 years on the bench handling complex commercial cases and now serves as an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association®, has experienced this firsthand. After decades overseeing high-stakes business disputes, she points to a fundamental change: the volume of information and communication surrounding modern cases.
Information Overload in Disputes
Today’s disputes are built on far more communication and documentation than in the past.
Much of that communication no longer happens face-to-face. It happens across emails, messages, and digital platforms, where misunderstandings can develop more easily and escalate more quickly.
“You used to just depose a party to find out what everybody said. Now you’re dealing with millions of electronic communications during the course of a particular commercial transaction that can add to the process burden of getting to a resolution,” Baily said.
What might once have been a contained disagreement can now expand, with issues compounding over time and across participants.
Instead of relying on a limited set of documents and testimony, cases now involve millions of electronic communications across multiple systems. Sorting through this information to identify what matters most can slow resolution and increase costs.
Why Process Can Make or Break a Dispute
In this environment, how a dispute is managed can have as much impact as the issues themselves.
Without defined expectations, timelines, and limits, disputes can become inefficient and difficult to control. Costs increase, timelines stretch, and the process itself can become a source of disruption.
“The really critical aspect that contributes to cost, stress, and time is failure to set up the guardrails and process and create appropriate expectations at the outset,” Bailey said.
In arbitration, parties can define the dispute resolution process in advance, set limits on discovery, and establish a timeline that fits the needs of their specific case.
For businesses, this provides something critical: clarity. Knowing what will happen, when it will happen, and how long it is likely to take reduces uncertainty and allows organizations to plan and make decisions.
The Arbitrator’s Role in Keeping Disputes on Track
Selecting the right arbitrator is critical to keeping a dispute efficient and on track. Bailey points to three key factors: expertise, access, and control.
Parties should look for arbitrators who understand the subject matter of the dispute, reducing the need for a steep learning curve. They should also consider availability. Unlike courts, arbitration allows parties to select decision-makers who have the time and capacity to actively manage the case.
Effective arbitrators also balance collaboration with structure. They work with the parties to tailor the process, while enforcing reasonable limits and timelines to keep the case moving.
“At the outset, you lay out how the case is going to be handled, what the limits are, and you enforce them,” Bailey said.
This active management is what keeps disputes from expanding in cost and duration and what allows businesses to maintain control as the case progresses.
For smaller businesses, that timeline can be critical. A dispute that takes years to resolve can outlast the business itself.
Dispute Management Is a Strategic Choice
The dramatic increase in digital communication and data has made disputes more complex, more frequent, and harder to manage.
How a dispute is managed is now a strategic decision. Arbitration allows businesses to shape the process and control how disputes are resolved.
See How Disputes Are Being Resolved Across Industries
A Wall Street Journal feature highlights how companies are addressing complex disputes and turning to alternative approaches to resolve them more efficiently.