Did you know that 87% of experienced arbitrators report *always* trying to follow applicable law in rendering an award? That will come as a surprise to many critics who like to complain that arbitrators do not adhere to established law.

The statistic comes from a survey that Prof. Thomas Stipanowich of Pepperdine University School of Law conducted recently. He obtained responses from 134 highly experienced arbitrators –most of them had arbitrated more than 100 disputes in their career — to a range of questions. And the results dispel some myths about arbitration.

Here’s another myth-buster: less than 1% of these arbitrators refuse to rule on motions for summary judgment. Instead, about 70% of these arbitrators say they “readily” rule on dispositive motions.

A less surprising statistic is this one: 91% of responding arbitrators “usually” or “always” work with counsel to limit discovery, and 94% “usually” or “always” encourage the parties to limit the scope of discovery. Here’s another non-shocker: 75% of these arbitrators generally “receive virtually all non-privileged evidence and discourage traditional objections (hearsay, foundation, etc.).” Experienced arbitrators are proactive case managers in other ways as well, with the great majority requiring parties to submit a core collection of joint exhibits for the hearing, limiting duplicative testimony, and telling counsel when a point has been understood and “they can move on.” (That is always an awkward moment.)

Read original article


Tags: