The American Arbitration Association® (AAA®) has introduced an alternative fee arrangement (AFA) option on eligible cases offering to help resolve B2B disputes through arbitration.
The AAA's AFA program for parties pursuing arbitration is the first of its kind to be offered by a national provider of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services. Parties can choose from the following two AFA options prior to the appointment of an arbitrator:
- Fixed Fee Arrangement, whereby an AAA arbitration panel member proposes a fixedfee for the pre-hearing, hearing, and post-hearing phases of arbitration which must beapproved by all parties.
- Capped Fee Arrangement, whereby an AAA arbitration panel member proposes a fee cap for the entire arbitral process which must be approved by all parties.
For more information about the AAA-ICDRSM’s alternative fee arrangements, please visit www.adr.org/afa.
The AAA-ICDR’s AFA program is in line with industry trends, given that the popularity of AFAs continues to grow among corporate counsel. According to the 2017 Litigation Trends Annual Survey compiled by Norton Rose Fulbright, 96% of corporate counsel in the U.S. and other countries were satisfied with the quality of work provided under AFAs - and more than a third of the 318 survey participants stated they expect to increase their use of AFAs in 2018.