Construction Law

Fast facts regarding results in American Arbitration Association cases

By Brett Hill

Did You Know. . .

That 91% of 2007 American Arbitration Association (AAA) construction arbitration awards involving cases with only one claim were outside the mid-range of the parties' claims? This is similar to arbitral award trends in the past two decades, and debunks the myth that arbitrators "split the baby."

The AAA analyzed 2007 construction arbitration awards with only one claim, which means no counterclaim was filed. Statistics showed that out of 574 cases analyzed, only 9% (54 cases) were awarded in the mid-range, or "split" down the middle (41% to 60%).

Of 247 cases, 43% were awarded more than 80% of the claims. At the other end of the spectrum, the claims of 13% (73 cases) were totally denied. This shows that in spite of common misperceptions, arbitrators do not divide monetary awards down the middle. The AAA has conducted similar research in the past 20 years, and each year, the research has yielded similar results.

Here are the results of the analysis of the 2007 construction arbitration awards with only one claim:

Full post as published by Construction Law Blog on July 20, 2009 (boomark / email).