Under the laws of all states in this country you can have a binding arbitration provision which is mandatory in your residential lease.The pros of such a clause is that the dispute gets resolved sooner and typically with less attorney's fees expended.The negatives are that the mediator's fees are quite expensive, one has no right to a jury trial and essentially one cannot appeal an adverse decision even if the mediator does not follow the law. In essence, one can get stuck with a bad decision and have no legal recourse.I customarily advise my landlord clients not to have an attorney's fee clause in the lease in that such only gives fodder to the tenant's attorney with respect to a possible dispute.