April 2022 Archives

What steps can an arbitrator take in writing an Award to avoid an excessively long Award? Are there components of awards that are unnecessary or can be presented more succinctly? On the other hand, do the reasons that arbitrators write long awards outweigh the benefits of arbitrators striving to write shorter awards? Should Awards not exceed 50 pages or have no page limit?

Please provide your thoughts/comments below.

Thank you to Dana MacGrath and Steve Skulnik for this week's question from a recent program.

What should arbitrators to do in writing the award, when over the course of arbitration, the parties submit evidence that raises, in the eyes of the Tribunal, issues that may be relevant and material to the outcome of the case but the parties have not asked the Tribunal to address them (e.g. evidence of possible fraud in underlying transaction)?

Please provide your thoughts/comments below.

Thank you Dana MacGrath and Steve Skulnik for this week's question taken from a recent program.

Effective March 3, 2022, the United States Congress passed a law signed by President Biden that no pre-dispute arbitration agreement shall be valid or enforceable with respect to a case that relates to sexual harassment disputes or sexual assault disputes as defined by the law, unless the party alleging claims of sexual harassment or sexual assault elects to have the pre-dispute arbitration agreement enforced. Do you agree with this law? If yes or no, why?

Please provide your thoughts/comments below.

Besides background experience, expertise, education, speaking engagements, fees, etc., what other information should an arbitrator's resume contain and why? Should it list how many cases served on to award and times served as a chairperson? Should it confirm whether or not the arbitrator is willing to do either virtual (listing types of platforms) and/or in person hearings? Is it important to self-identify race and gender on the resume?

Please provide your thoughts/comments below.

New Article 17 of the ICDR Rules (amended March 1, 2021) expressly permits a tribunal to appoint a tribunal secretary if the parties consent, and requires that the tribunal secretary serve in accordance with any "ICDR guidelines." What has been your experience with tribunal secretaries in international matters and is there a place for them in domestic arbitration?

Please provide your thoughts/comments below.