ADR Arbitration Procedures & Ethics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary purpose of a 'scheduling order' issued at the outset of an arbitration?
- To permanently fix the arbitration award amount
- To establish timelines for discovery, motions, and hearings to keep the process on track (Correct answer)
- To notify the court of the pending arbitration
- To assign the case to a specific arbitration panel
Correct answer: To establish timelines for discovery, motions, and hearings to keep the process on track
A scheduling order sets procedural milestones—such as discovery deadlines, briefing schedules, and hearing dates—to ensure the arbitration proceeds efficiently.
Question 2: Under the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration, a 'Redfern Schedule' is used to:
- Calculate arbitrator compensation
- Organize and rule on document production requests and objections in a structured format (Correct answer)
- Schedule witness examination order
- Allocate arbitration costs between parties
Correct answer: Organize and rule on document production requests and objections in a structured format
A Redfern Schedule is a tabular format where each document request, the requesting party's justification, the responding party's objection, and the tribunal's ruling are recorded in parallel columns.
Question 3: An arbitrator who holds a financial interest in a company that is a subsidiary of one of the parties has:
- A non-waivable conflict requiring mandatory disqualification
- A potential conflict that must be disclosed but may be waived by both parties (Correct answer)
- No conflict because the interest is in a different corporate entity
- A conflict only if the interest exceeds 10% ownership
Correct answer: A potential conflict that must be disclosed but may be waived by both parties
Financial interests in related entities create disclosable conflicts that must be revealed; parties may then waive the conflict if they choose, unless it rises to the level of evident partiality.
Question 4: In arbitration, 'issue estoppel' prevents a party from:
- Raising any new claims after the first hearing session
- Re-litigating an issue that has already been finally determined in prior proceedings between the same parties (Correct answer)
- Objecting to an arbitrator's qualifications after the first session
- Seeking injunctive relief in court while arbitration is pending
Correct answer: Re-litigating an issue that has already been finally determined in prior proceedings between the same parties
Issue estoppel (collateral estoppel) bars a party from re-litigating factual or legal issues that were fully and finally decided in prior proceedings.
Question 5: The 'severability doctrine' in arbitration law holds that:
- An arbitration clause is treated as a separate agreement independent of the main contract (Correct answer)
- An arbitrator can sever part of a dispute and decide it separately
- Costs must be divided equally between parties
- Each claim in an arbitration must be decided in a separate award
Correct answer: An arbitration clause is treated as a separate agreement independent of the main contract
The severability doctrine treats the arbitration clause as an independent contract, meaning that even if the main contract is void or voidable, the arbitration clause may still be enforceable.
Question 6: Which type of arbitration award addresses only some of the claims while leaving others unresolved?
- Final award
- Partial award (Correct answer)
- Consent award
- Default award
Correct answer: Partial award
A partial award resolves certain claims or issues definitively while leaving other aspects of the dispute for subsequent proceedings or a final award.
Question 7: When the parties to an arbitration reach a settlement during proceedings, the arbitrator may memorialize the agreement as a:
- Consent award (award on agreed terms) (Correct answer)
- Interim protective order
- Partial default award
- Declaratory judgment
Correct answer: Consent award (award on agreed terms)
A consent award (also called an award on agreed terms) records the parties' settlement in the form of an arbitral award, giving it the same enforceability as a contested award.
ADR Arbitration Procedures & Ethics 3
What is the primary purpose of a 'scheduling order' issued at the outset of an arbitration?