The Beth Din of America is a full service mediation and arbitration organization that has earned a reputation, among Jews across the ideological spectrum, for handling dispute resolution with confidentiality,
Types of Cases
The Beth Din regularly arbitrates a wide range of disputes among parties, ranging in value from small claims to litigation involving several million dollars. These cases include: commercial (such as employer-employee, landlord-tenant, real property, business interference, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, investor mismanagement, defective merchandise and unfair competition disputes), communal (such as rabbinic contract disputes and other congregational issues) and familial (such as family business, inheritance and matrimonial) disputes. Cases are heard by a panel of three dayanim (arbitration judges) or, on occasion, one dayan.
Expert Arbitration Judges
The dayanim who sit on cases include leading authorities on Jewish law, as well as lawyers and businessmen who are familiar with secular law and contemporary commercial practices. When appropriate, the Beth Din will either include expert professionals on an arbitration panel, or consult them as expert witnesses.
Procedural Fairness
The Beth Din maintains an impartial and confidential relationship with each of its clients. Hearings proceed in conformity with the Rules and Procedures of the Beth Din.
Legally Binding Rulings
Prior to having a case heard by the Beth Din, litigants are required to enter into a binding arbitration agreement. The Beth Din conducts its proceedings in a manner that is consistent with the requirements of secular arbitration law, so that the rulings of the Beth Din are legally binding and enforceable in the secular court system.
Fees
Typically, a din torah case is heard by a panel of three dayanim (arbitrators) at the rate of $500 per hour of hearing time per side ($1,000 per hour total). Cases involving amounts in controversy of less than $20,000 are typically heard by a single dayan at the rate of $250 per hour of hearing time per side ($500 per hour total). In addition, document review, deliberations and psak (decision) writing is billed at $165 per dayan hour per side ($330 per dayan hour total). Parties pay a retainer prior to the first session, and unused balances are returned when the case before the Beth Din is closed.
Mediations are billed at $250 per hour per side ($500 per hour total).
For cancellations less than 24 hours in advance, the Beth Din reserves the right to charge the cancelling party a fee equal to one hour of hearing or mediation time (i.e. $1,000 for three dayanim, $500 for a single dayan).
For post-award requests for modification under Section 31 of the Rules and Procedures, a fee is charged to each party that submits a request for modification. The fee is 10% of the total fee that was charged for hearing time in the case, with a minimum fee of $250 and maximum fee of $1,000. In addition, the appeal dayan’s document review time may be billed at $165 per dayan hour per side ($330 per dayan hour total) for especially voluminous submissions.
Rules and Procedures of the Beth Din of America