Adjudicator

An adjudicator is someone who presides, judges and arbitrates during a formal dispute. The term adjudicator essentially means a judge, without invoking the legal term. An example of an adjudicator is a person who makes a preliminary judgment as to an unemployment insurance claim. An adjudicator makes an initial Decision to keep a case from going to court. Although the adjudicator's Decision does not have the same legal weight, an adjudicator has still rendered a Decision just like a judge. Although a case can be appealed to a judge, the adjudicator's Decision is frequently accepted as the same as what a judge would make, keeping many time-consuming cases out of the court system.