Chairing an Arbitration - Chapter 8 - AAA Handbook on Arbitration Practice

Michael J. Bayard is a full-time construction arbitrator, mediator and project neutral. He chairs the AAA’s Construction Advisory Subcommittee for the Los Angeles Region and teaches a graduate course in construction management at the University of Southern California, where he is an adjunct professor. He was recently named to the AAA’s National Construction Master Arbitrator Roster.

Judith Ittig practices law in Washington, D.C. She is also an arbitrator and mediator, serving on the AAA’s panels for construction, commercial and international cases, as well as the large complex case panel. She is listed on the AAA’s National Construction Master Arbitrator Roster. Mrs. Ittig has been on the AAA’s arbitrator training faculty since 1996, and she helped develop the 2-day advanced arbitrator training course. She is a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers and the College of Commercial Arbitrators.

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Originally from: AAA Handbook on Arbitration Practice

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We have each chaired many arbitration panels, and in one very large, multi-party case, one of us (Judith) was an arbitrator on a tribunal that the other (Mike) chaired. Mike is located in Los Angeles and Judith lives and works in Washington, D.C. Working together at a long distance from each other required special attention to case management among the three arbitrators. That experience, along with our separate work as chairs of other panels, led us to offer our perspectives on the unique role of a panel chair. This article contains our shared thinking about how to manage the responsibilities of chairing an arbitration.

The panel chair is the leader and the voice of the panel. However, the chair has no more authority than the other arbitrators do to decide the dispute. To be effective, the chair must treat the co-arbitrators with a high level of respect. The chair’s job is to manage, not usurp, the authority of the other arbitrators. What follows is our vision of how a panel chair should act from the time of appointment through the signing and delivery of the award.