Eric C. Liebeler recalls a nightmare arbitration involving Honeywell International Inc., where he is now chief litigation counsel. The liability phase of the $50 million breach of contract dispute, originally scheduled for 10 days, lasted 45 days spread over 18 months. Faced with the prospect of an equally draining damages phase, the company settled, but not before legal fees topped $5 million and each of the three arbitrators took home $480,000.
“The arbitrators weren’t very hard edged,” Liebeler says. “We got no traction whatsoever on any dispositive motions, we got no traction whatsoever on any evidentiary rulings. Either side could put in any evidence they wanted without any relation to the federal rules of procedure.”
