The American Arbitration Association, whose arbitration rules applied to 6,000 commercial disputes last year, released updated commercial arbitration rules on September 9th. The changes come largely as a result of “party preferences,” AAA General Counsel Eric Tuchmann told CorpCounsel.com. Corporate users and attorneys alike say they want “a better-managed process” and “an arbitrator who’s going to take control of the case,” according to Tuchmann.
The updates include clear language and guidelines to help both the parties and the arbitrator simplify the process. AAA Vice President Sandra Patridge says revisions should provide a “much higher comfort level” for participants, including general counsel, who haven’t spent a lot of time arbitrating. Parties can “read through the rules and get a sense of what the process will be like,” she told CorpCounsel.com.
Besides revising for clarity, the AAA has added new rules, some of which are meant to address common criticisms associated with arbitration—such as the burdensome discovery process that can mimic litigation, but without the comfort of an appeal. The rules will be effective for parties commencing an arbitration on or after October 1, 2013.
Among the new AAA rules, these six significant changes to the arbitration process are particularly noteworthy:
1. Mediation
In what the AAA touts as a novel rule, it is requiring that any parties with a claim of more than $75,000 consider mediation. “Many times parties want to mediate, but they don’t want to be the first one to say it,” says Partridge. Even before an arbitrator is appointed, a member of the AAA will discuss this option with all involved. With the addition of this new rule, mediation can occur concurrent to the arbitration process, up until the beginning of the formal arbitration, and will not delay the process.
