"Arb/med" is the reverse of "med/arb". The neutral person acts first as arbitrator, producing a written decision which is not revealed to the parties. The arbitrator then acts as mediator. If the mediation is successful, the decision never sees the light of day. If the parties do not resolve all issues at the mediation, the decision is revealed and binds the parties. Provided that the arbitration phase is contained within a previously agreed short period of time, so as to limit the cost, this hybrid process can be very successful, since (as in med-arb) the parties know their dispute will be over, one way or another, and the knowledge that a decision will be imposed if they cannot agree encourages them to try their hardest to reach agreement in the mediation stage.
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