Arbitration is a method of resolving disputes outside of court. Parties refer their disputes to an arbitrator who reviews the evidence, listens to the parties, and then makes a decision. An arbitration is a mini-trial, which may be for a lawsuit ready to go to trial, held in an attempt to avoid a court trial and conducted by a person or a panel of people who are not judges. Arbitration Forums, Inc. is the nation’s largest arbitration and subrogation services provider serving over 5,300 members’ recovery and resolution needs. In 2021, its members filed almost 869,000 arbitration disputes and almost 2 million subrogation demands collectively worth more than $17.6 billion in claims.
Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. (MWL) represents auto insurance companies and self-insureds who are members of Arbitration Forums or subject to mandatory subrogation arbitration. Thorough, well-documented and supported arbitration filings are the key to success in arbitration subrogation. MWL supports well-documented submissions with the most accurate and detailed legal briefs tailored for lay arbitrators. This includes effective and thorough mandatory auto arbitration in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, and Virginia. It is the type of damages sought that determines whether arbitration is compulsory, not the type of coverage afforded by the Respondent. MWL also excels in forcing responding companies who have lost at arbitration to pay when they fail to do so.
One of the biggest mistakes we see insurance companies make is claims handlers filing arbitration submissions with little documentation, substantiation, and referencing specific laws and statutes which are applicable to the loss. Arbitrators are not lawyers and must be spoon-fed both the law and the applicable authority on which your subrogation or reimbursement submission is based. Decades of experience has taught us to approach arb filings with the thoroughness of trial preparation. We leave no stone unturned and assume that the arbitrators must be made aware of every facet of the submitted claim.
As it turns out, there are plenty of situations where two parties must arbitrate auto claims even though they are not members of or signatories to arbitration. Subrogation professionals should be familiar with when and where auto arbitration is mandatory. MWL lawyers and paralegals routinely files mandatory arbitration in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, and Virginia.
