Instead of judges or juries, arbitrators decide if wrongdoing occurred and how to correct or compensate you for it. When the arbitration is over, the decisions of the arbitrators are final. If you are unhappy with the result, you cannot go to court to try again. You'll find more information about appealing an arbitrator's decision elsewhere in Fast Answers. If you have a brokerage account, you probably signed an agreement that requires you to settle any disputes with your broker through arbitration rather than the courts.
Time is of the essence .
To take advantage of your legal rights, you must take legal action promptly or you may lose the right to seek a remedy or recover funds. For example, federal securities laws require that you bring a court action within one year of the date that you should have reasonably discovered the wrongdoing, but in no case later than three years from the date the wrongdoing actually occurred. Arbitrators look to either a federal or state statute of limitations, depending on whether your claim is a violation of federal or state law. You generally cannot pursue an issue through arbitration if it is more than six years old. To file arbitration action .