Kaptest- CAT

[bryan88]

In the arena of litigation alternatives, one advantage of "collaborative law" over mediation is that the pre-trial outcome is decided by lawyers and litigants, working together in full participation throughout the process, instead of a mediator.

A)instead of
B)in contrast to
C)rather than by
D)and not decided by
E)compared to being done by

Is rather than an acceptable construction on the GMAT?

[GmatKiss]

In the arena of litigation alternatives, one advantage of "collaborative law" over mediation is that the pre-trial outcome is decided by lawyers and litigants, working together in full participation throughout the process, instead of a mediator.

A)instead of
B)in contrast to
C)rather than by - concise
D)and not decided by - ambiguous
E)compared to being done by - Wordy

Is rather than an acceptable construction on the GMAT? YES

[patanjali.purpose]

In the arena of litigation alternatives, one advantage of "collaborative law" over mediation is that the pre-trial outcome is decided by lawyers and litigants, working together in full participation throughout the process, instead of a mediator.

A)instead of
B)in contrast to
C)rather than by
D)and not decided by
E)compared to being done by

Is rather than an acceptable construction on the GMAT?

RATHER THEN - used as preference; INSTEAD OF - used when A replaces B; From this we can use both INSTEAD OF and RATHER THAN in the above sentence as we cant say for sure whether sentence talks about a preference or replacement; But,

...decided by XX, ..., INSTEAD OF/RATHER THAN a mediator. The presence of BY requires us to use BY BEFOER MEDIATOR and therefore, IMO C correct