Tag: arbitration

Arbitration Disclosure Form

I use this form to make disclosures in AAA-administered arbitrations and mediations. I use a substantially similar form in private or court-annexed mediations and arbitrations and arbitrations administered by FINRA DR. Phil Cutler March 2013 Arbitrator [Mediator] Disclosures of Philip E. Cutler Consistent with the [CODE OF ETHICS FOR ARBITRATORS IN COMMERCIAL DISPUTES (AAA and ABA), the Disclosure Guidelines for…

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The Mediation-Arbitration Option

While most parties choose to resolve disputes by either mediation or arbitration (or litigation), there is a hybrid process – known as Med-Arb – that parties occasionally prefer. As its name implies, the parties first mediate and then, if and only if they are unable to resolve all issues by settlement, the mediator changes hats and sits as an arbitrator,…

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Sample Arbitration Submission Agreement

While arbitration is a recognized dispute resolution process – particularly in the business-to-business context – it is fundamentally a creature of contractual agreement among the parties and a written agreement to arbitrate is required.  See, e.g., RCW 7.04A.060.  The agreement to arbitrate may be entered into pre-dispute or after a dispute has arisen.  The following presumes that the parties did not agree to arbitration in their original dealings but, now that a dispute has arisen, have decided to use arbitration – rather than the courts – to resolve it.  As arbitration is contractual, it is vitally important that all necessary parties sign the agreement to arbitrate, as only parties will be bound by the result.  Either pre-dispute or post-dispute the parties have a choice:  arbitrate using the services of a neutral administering organization that appoints the arbitrator(s) and manages the process, or privately, on an ad hoc basis, with the parties or the arbitrator(s) managing the process.  Both scenarios are addressed in the following materials.  As with drafting pre-dispute dispute resolution clauses, it is vitally important that counsel understand the arbitration process and craft a clause that sets up an appropriate framework for resolving the dispute.

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Doing Business in Washington? Understand the ADR Options.

ADR IN WASHINGTON – Chapter 28 of “Doing Business in Washington” (5th ed., WSBA International Section) I was asked to author the chapter on Alternative Dispute Resolution for the 5th edition of “Doing Business in Washington”, published (fall 2010) by the WSBA International Section in conjunction with the Washington Department of Commerce.  I also authored the same chapter in prior…

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Arbitration – Getting the Evidence, Getting it in . . . and Persuading the Arbitrator

ARBITRATION PRACTICE & PROCEDURE The following material was prepared for an in-house law firm CLE in the fall of 2008. While arbitrations and court cases share many common traits, an arbitration is generally less formal procedurally than a court case, the discovery available in arbitration is a good deal less expansive than that available in litigation, and the decision-maker is…

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Exhibit to Third Party Subpoenas

USAGE NOTE: I commonly attach an exhibit like this to subpoenas (either for discovery of for the Hearing) I issue to third-parties in AAA-administered arbitrations. I may use a similar form in NASD-administered arbitrations and in private arbitrations. Enforcement of an arbitrator-issued subpoena to a third-party is the province of the courts, not the arbitrator. Exhibit to Third-Party Subpoenas

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Realizing the Benefits of Arbitration – Top 10 Tips to CEOs and CFOs

In the fall of 2009 the College of Commercial Arbitrators, a by-invitation only association of leading domestic and international arbitrators, in conjunction with the American Arbitration Association and other major arbitration-provider organizations, hosted a summit of leading lawyers, arbitrators, business executives, and general counsel to discuss ways in which arbitration – long viewed among businesses as the preferred domestic and…

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