Lawyers who have even a hint that there could be a relationship between an arbitrator and opposing counsel should object loudly and long before a decision is reached; otherwise, their client may be out of luck.

That’s the takeaway from the 5th Court of Appeals’ opinion in Ponderosa Pine Energy v. Tenaska Energy Inc., et al., in which the Dallas justices reversed and rendered a trial court’s decision to vacate a $125 million arbitration award.