EQuibbly

EQuibbly was an online dispute-resolution service designed to make civil dispute resolution more accessible and less expensive than conventional litigation. The service operated in the United States, Canada, and other countries that were parties to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. Its core proposition was that individuals and companies should be able to resolve certain disputes privately and obtain an enforceable decision without bearing the full cost and procedural complexity of a court case. The service was developed in response to the difficulty many people face when seeking legal redress for relatively small-value claims. Its founder, Lance Soskin, said that the idea arose after a friend encountered litigation costs she could not afford. The underlying problem was especially acute for people without access to legal representation: a dispute worth only a few hundred dollars could be economically irrational to pursue through the courts, even when the claimant believed the claim was legitimate. EQuibbly initially attracted attention for experimenting with a public crowdvoting model. Under that approach, internet users could review disputes and register opinions, using what the service described as the wisdom of the crowd as a possible alternative to small-claims litigation. Crowdvoting was not legally binding, and the model was later discontinued. EQuibbly also discontinued mediation and ultimately concentrated on private arbitration. In its later form, EQuibbly offered confidential, legally binding arbitration conducted by former trial judges. Arbitrators issued decisions intended to be enforceable in court, providing a more formal mechanism than public voting while retaining the convenience of an online service. The model placed EQuibbly within the broader development of alternative dispute resolution, in which mediation and arbitration are used to reduce court caseloads and provide parties with potentially faster and more proportionate procedures. EQuibbly ceased operations in 2016. As a result, it is no longer an active provider of online arbitration or mediation services. Its historical significance lies in its attempt to combine internet-based case handling with arbitration, as well as in its early experiment with crowd-based dispute assessment.

EQuibbly emerged as an online dispute-resolution venture focused on the gap between the availability of legal rights and the practical ability to enforce them. Conventional litigation can impose filing fees, legal bills, procedural demands, and time costs that make a claim uneconomic, particularly for low- and middle-income individuals and for disputes involving relatively small sums. EQuibbly was conceived as an internet-based response to that access-to-justice problem. Founder Lance Soskin reportedly developed the service after a friend faced litigation that she could not afford. The concept was consistent with the growing use of mediation and arbitration as alternatives to court proceedings. Supporters of alternative dispute resolution have argued that appropriate cases can be handled more efficiently outside court, while also reducing pressure on judicial systems and giving parties more flexible procedures. At launch, EQuibbly received media attention for its crowdvoting experiment. The public could review information about disputes and vote on the merits, allowing the collective opinions of internet users to serve as an informal alternative to a small-claims hearing. This approach was intended for less serious disputes and was presented as a use of the wisdom of crowds. It did not produce a legally binding judgment, however, and EQuibbly later abandoned the public crowdvoting model. The company also discontinued mediation and shifted toward a more formal service: private arbitration conducted online by former trial judges. In this later model, the arbitrator's decision was legally binding and could be enforced through the courts. This change moved the service away from open public participation and toward confidential adjudication performed by experienced legal professionals. EQuibbly was available to individuals and companies in the United States, Canada, and other jurisdictions connected to the international enforcement framework established by the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. EQuibbly ultimately ceased operations in 2016. No current operating business, parent company, or successor service is identified in the supplied reference material. The venture is therefore best understood as a defunct legal-technology and professional-services brand whose principal historical themes were access to civil justice, online arbitration, crowd-based dispute evaluation, and the use of technology to reduce the cost of resolving claims.

• 2016

  Operations ceased

  [1]EQuibblyen.wikipedia.org

  EQuibbly ceased operating as an online dispute-resolution service.

• EQuibbly developed as an online dispute-resolution service

  [1]EQuibblyen.wikipedia.org

  Lance Soskin developed EQuibbly as a response to the cost barriers that prevent individuals from pursuing relatively small civil claims through conventional litigation.

• Public crowdvoting introduced

  [1]EQuibblyen.wikipedia.org

  The service attracted attention for allowing internet users to vote on certain disputes as an informal, non-binding alternative to small-claims litigation.

• Service shifted to private arbitration

  [1]EQuibblyen.wikipedia.org

  EQuibbly discontinued crowdvoting and mediation and focused on private, legally binding arbitration conducted by former trial judges.

A lower-cost, online alternative to court litigation for individuals and companies seeking private and enforceable dispute resolution.

• Legal technology and alternative dispute resolution

  Private online arbitration

  EQuibbly's later core offering was private arbitration for individuals and companies. Cases were handled online by former trial judges, and the resulting decisions were intended to be legally binding and enforceable in court. The service positioned arbitration as a more proportionate alternative to litigation for disputes where the cost of a conventional court case could outweigh the amount at issue.

• Online dispute assessment

  Crowdvoting

  The original public-facing model invited internet users to review disputes and express their views through voting. It was promoted as an application of collective judgment to less serious disputes and as an alternative to small-claims proceedings. Because the outcome was not legally binding, the model was later discontinued.

• Alternative dispute resolution

  Mediation

  Mediation was among the dispute-resolution approaches associated with EQuibbly during its development. Unlike arbitration, mediation generally seeks a negotiated settlement rather than imposing a binding decision. EQuibbly later discontinued mediation and concentrated on private arbitration.

• Shift from public crowdvoting and mediation to private arbitrationStrategy

  Background

  EQuibbly initially experimented with public voting on disputes and also offered mediation, but these approaches did not provide the same formal legal effect as arbitration.

  Action taken

  The service discontinued public crowdvoting and mediation and focused on confidential arbitration conducted by former trial judges.

  Aftermath

  The revised model offered legally binding decisions intended to be enforceable in court, but EQuibbly ceased operations in 2016.

  Source

1. 1EQuibblyen.wikipedia.org