Muscular Arbitration and Arbitrators Self-Management Can Make Arbitration Faster and More Economical - Chapter 18 - AAA Handbook on Arbitration Practice - Second Edition

Author(s): 

Mitchell Marinello

Robert Matlin

Page Count: 

16 pages

Media Description: 

1 PDF Download

Published: 

December, 2015

Author Detail: 

Mitchell Marinello is a Partner with the law firm of Novack and Macey. Robert
Matlin is Senior Vice President with the American Arbitration Association.

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Description: 

Originally from:

AAA Handbook on Arbitration Practice - Second Edition

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 CHAPTER 18

MUSCULAR ARBITRATION AND ARBITRATORS

SELF-MANAGEMENT CAN MAKE ARBITRATION

FASTER AND MORE ECONOMICAL
 

Mitchell Marinello and Robert Matlin
 

I. Introduction
 

The importance of making arbitration more efficient and less costly

has such a high profile that the Dispute Resolution Journal devoted the

last issue to this theme. The challenge of protecting the time and cost

advantages of arbitration will continue until parties and arbitration

counsel learn to think of arbitration as a process that is distinct from

litigation and arbitrators learn to be more “muscular” and disciplined

managers of the process and themselves.
 

The American Arbitration Association (AAA) is committed to

improving the arbitration process and regularly asks users of AAA services

and their counsel about their arbitration experience and how it could be

better. More often than not, parties and counsel say they want arbitrators to

exercise greater control over the arbitration process to prevent delay and

the escalating cost of the process. In a keynote address at the 2010 AAA

Neutrals Conference, William Slate II, the past president and CEO of the

AAA, emphasized that an important part of arbitration’s mission is to

avoid the undue expense and delay that characterizes litigation. He urged

arbitrators to “take a cold, hard look” at every arbitration case to see what

they can do to deliver a more economical and efficient process.
 

The term “muscular arbitration” describes a disciplined arbitration in

which the arbitrator actively manages the pre-hearing and hearing phases

of the case so that there are no delays and the issues submitted to

arbitration are decided on the merits in an efficient and timely manner.

An important part of muscular arbitration is arbitrator self-discipline,