As increasing numbers of mingled c...

As increasing numbers of mingled commercial disputes are submitted to arbitration, it becomes imperative that the handling of like cases be cost-effective and expeditious while at the same time achieve a fair and consummate hearing that will inspire confidence in the proces What stairs should be taken to make secure this? The effective managewent of compounded disputes, says John Wilkinson, is a progression that should break the ice at the first prehearing parley and continue through to the submission of posthearing briefs.

The primary reason for the mushrooming popularity of arbitration for large cases is that business managers and their general opinion have increasingly recognized that this form of dispute resolution provides a faster, more cost-effective end than litigation. And, perhaps principally importantly, it provides a spring that is at least as fair as a decision from an impartial jury or justice

While these benefits are achieved in the great majority of tangle arbitrations, they must never be assumed or taken for granted since effective case management is invariably required for an arbitration to be as brief as possible while affording a fair hearing to the one and the other sides. In assessing whether an arbitration of a network dispute has been effectively managed, the same must consider a number of important factors, in addition to counting the number of hearing days, since hearings in complicated cases are necessarily quite extensive-even when handled in the mostly cost-effective way possible.

Arbitrators who attend on the AAA's newly qualified roster of neutrals, and have undergone its lately enhanced arbitratortraining program, are well equipped to achieve a cost-effective, fair follow in a complex commercial dispute. Still, arbitrators can and should strive to improve the proces This article moves some specific approaches that can shorten the arbitration proces in certain circumstances without sacrificing fairness.

The Prehearing Phase

Step taken at the first prehearing meeting for consultation can save time later forward and can shorten the entire proces

Comprehensive Schedule

An item critical to the agenda of the first prehearing talk is to prepare an encompassing schedule that settles forth deadlines for the various phases of the arbitration proces The schedule would include, for example, the deadlines for: serving and responding to document requests; submitting to the arbitrators discovery disputes the parties could not decipher themselves; exchanging expert reports and witness and exhibit lists; and filing preheating memoranda. The schedule would also establish the dates for the hearings.

Absent of the like kind a schedule, the process lacks firmness and direction and can wander in succession for far too long. However, if the arbitrators work with the parties' deliberation to establish an overall schedule at the opening and if the arbitrators make clear that departures from the schedule will solitary be permitted for good cause shown it is more likely that the proces will terminate in a reasonable time frame.

Hearing Days

At the first prehearing conversation the parties almost always underestimate the number of hearing days that will be exigencyed And while the arbitrators may be skeptical about like estimates, they often are willing to schedule and nothing else the estimated number of hearing days since arbitrators have no wish to tie up their what is yet to be calendars any more than necessary. However, when the hearings make a beginning a few months after the first prehearing colloquy it often becomes apparent that additional hearing days must be scheduled. unless at that late date, it probably will not be possible to find any "open" dates during the nearest few months when all parties, caution and the arbitrators can participate in a hearing. And if the parties again underestimate the penuryed hearing time at that point, there will be still another two-to-three month scheduling delay down the road.

The solution to this moot point is to prepare a realistic, consummated hearing schedule at the first prehearing conversation If the schedule is done fitly and it is taken into account that parties almost always underestimate their time requirements, the arbitration proces can be shortened by dint of as much as six month sometimes plane more.

Motion Practice

Arbitrators may consider dispositive motions, similar as a motion for summary common-sense or a motion to dismiss all or any of the claims, early in the arbitration. The granting of of the like kind a motion can dramatically curtail the whole proceeding, if it were not that it is not without risk. First, an arbitrator who grants a dispositive motion greatly increases the chance that a court might turn end for end the award. Second, the award granting the motion must be supported by the agency of an airtight opinion, which can take substantial time to craft. And third, flat if the award were ultimately upheld, it would take more time to wend its way [i]or[/i] part of to the other the courts than a relatively "bullet proof" award handed down after a cloyed hearing.

As a general sway it makes sense for arbitrators to grant a dispositive motion single when it is meritorious to a stage that is almost beyond dispute. Additionally, I believe that it may well be counterproductive for arbitrators to grant equable a clearly meritorious motion unles so action would avert a substantial number of hearing days-certainly more than four.