Explainer, US, UAE, UK, Arbitration, Ombudsman schemes, Complaints
Caseloads and turnaround: how many cases, and how long
Caseloads run from a few hundred institutional arbitrations to hundreds of thousands of complaints, and turnaround is a function of how a case is run.
Published Last reviewed 3 min readBy SpyroLex
Dispute resolution caseloads range from a few hundred institutional arbitrations a year to hundreds of thousands of complaints, and the matters are mostly small and alike. Turnaround follows how a case is decided, from months on the papers to over a year with a full hearing. Running every case the same way under the rulebook is what keeps volume affordable and timelines predictable.
The range is enormous, the matters are alike
Dispute resolution caseloads span a wide range. The AAA-ICDR reported almost 12,000 business-to-business cases filed in 2025, with US$21.4 billion in claims, inside 580,000 new cases across all sectors. In Dubai, DIAC registered 312 cases in 2025, with USD 3.8 billion in dispute. The UK Financial Ombudsman Service received 305,900 new complaints in 2024/25. From a few hundred institutional arbitrations to hundreds of thousands of complaints, the matters are mostly small and alike.137
Volume is what makes the rulebook the point
Because the matters are many and similar, the way to keep them affordable and fair is to run each one the same way under the rulebook. FINRA, which runs US securities arbitration, took in about 2,010 arbitration filings in the first nine months of 2026, roughly 69% of them customer cases, and a claim of US$50,000 or less is decided by a single public arbitrator on the papers. The consistency, not bespoke handling, is what carries the volume.2
| Scheme | Caseload | Amount in dispute |
|---|---|---|
| AAA-ICDR (US) | Almost 12,000 business-to-business cases in 2025 (580,000 across all sectors) | US$21.4bn in B2B claims |
| FINRA (US) | About 2,010 arbitration filings in the first nine months of 2026, about 69% customer cases | Mostly small investor claims |
| DIAC (Dubai) | 312 registered cases in 2025, up 6% on 2024 | USD 3.8bn |
| arbitrateAD (Abu Dhabi) | 105 matters 2024 to 2026 (76 arbitrations) | Not stated |
| Financial Ombudsman Service (UK) | 305,900 new complaints in 2024/25 | Mostly small consumer complaints |
Turnaround is set by how the case runs
How long a case takes is mostly a property of the path it runs, not luck. Of FINRA arbitration cases closed in the first nine months of 2026, the average time to close was 13.8 months: about 16.4 months where there was a regular hearing, and roughly 5 months for cases decided on the papers or by a short video hearing. The faster track is a rule the forum offers, so the time is a choice the rulebook makes available, not an accident of the case.2
| How a FINRA case ends | Average time to close |
|---|---|
| On the papers or a short video hearing | About 5 months |
| With a regular hearing | About 16.4 months |
| All cases closed, first nine months of 2026 | 13.8 months on average |
Caseloads grow and shrink, so capacity has to flex
The numbers move, and a scheme has to plan against them. The DIFC Courts Arbitration Division took 53 claims worth AED 4.95 billion in 2025, and 37 worth AED 3.17 billion in the first half of 2026, up 61% year on year. The Financial Ombudsman Service, after 305,900 new cases in 2024/25, received 214,600 in 2025/26 and expects 199,000 in 2026/27. Planning capacity against a moving caseload is easier when every case runs the same way, because one more case is one more run of the same rules, not a new build.5678
A scheme is judged on two numbers: how many cases it runs and how long each takes. Both improve when every case runs the same way.
Why caseload is an administration problem
The numbers are the argument for rulebook-driven administration. At volume, the cost per case and the time to close both come from consistency: the same eligibility, the same track, the same record, run many times over. It is the same pattern set out in administering a case on your own rulebook, read through the two numbers a scheme is measured on.7