- 1New Era ADR offers virtual arbitration in about 100 days for one flat fee.
- 2Lee says court orders to confirm awards add roughly 30 days, versus up to a year in congested courts.
- 3Arbitrators are matched by field, with MCA-specific and New York experience for MCA cases.
New Era ADR is making a pitch to merchant cash advance funders that arbitration can deliver enforceable results far faster than court. CEO Rich Lee says the company's virtual platform produces an arbitration award in about 100 days for a single flat fee, and that MCA companies are already using it.
Speed versus court congestion
Arbitration is not new to MCA contract disputes, but court workloads can make its speed attractive. Lee said a case that starts in court can wait a year for an order in many courts. On New Era, he said, a funder gets an award inside about 100 days and may add roughly 30 days for a court to issue the corresponding order. He said MCA clients' awards are being enforced and converted into court orders.
Some funders have received awards for uncontested disputes in as few as 30 days. Even those matters go before neutral arbitrators and are scrutinized, Lee said, though efficiently. The process is fully virtual, so no party has to travel far, and it works in all states.
Who hears the cases
New Era has more than 100 arbitrators on its platform. Lee said many are retired judges and lawyers, while others are practicing partners and in-house counsel. A conflict check precedes every assignment, and arbitrators are matched to the area of law, so MCA disputes go to people with finance experience, MCA-specific experience and, in many cases, New York jurisdiction experience. Lee described the service as 90% faster and cheaper than alternatives, using the same quality of neutrals.
New Era, in a nutshell, is 100 days in arbitration, so legally enforceable arbitration, all for one flat fee, all on our platform.
The case for it
Lee is a former corporate and IP attorney, and his three co-founders are lawyers or have legal backgrounds. He argued that 99% of litigation does not need two to three years, and that lenders often charge off debt because pursuing it takes too long, particularly with unsecured cash advances where the money may be gone by the time an order arrives. Lee said many industries use the platform, including automakers, banks, real estate companies, sports teams and even the Olympics.
Source reporting: deBanked.
