Introduction - Chapter 1 - The College of Commercial Arbitrators Guide to Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration - 2nd Edition

Author(s):

Winslow Christian

James M. Gaitis

June R. Lehrman

Curtis E. von Kann

Page Count:

4 pages

Media Description:

PDF from "The College of Commercial Arbitrators Guide to Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration - 2nd Edition"

Published:

October, 2010

Jurisdictions:

United States

Practice Areas:

Commercial Disputes,

Practice & Procedure

Author Detail:

Winslow Christian, Formerly, Justice of the California Court of Appeals (now deceased)

June R. Lehrman, Esq., Los Angeles, California

James M. Gaitis is the former Director of the International Dispute Resolution and Management Programme at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee, Scotland, where he continues to serve as a member of the Global Faculty.

Curtis E. von Kann, Since 1997 he has been a full-time arbitrator, mediator, and neutral case evaluator in the Washington, DC office of JAMS, where he has served as sole arbitrator, tribunal member, and tribunal chair in a broad range of xxviii Guide to Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration commercial arbitrations. Judge von Kann is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London, a member of the Distinguished Neutrals Roster of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), and Immediate Past President of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and has lectured and published on many ADR topics. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the first edition of the College of Commercial Arbitrators Guide to Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration.

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The origins of arbitration in America date back to the colonial era when individuals involved in certain areas of commerce sought alternatives to judicial processes that were seen to be expensive, slow, and unpredictable in outcome. The arbitrator was usually a nonlawyer experienced in the line of trade in which the dispute arose. Simple procedure was agreed on by the parties. Stakes were generally modest. Proceedings were informal and short. Judicial involvement was not significant.

On that simple foundation has been built the present elaborate structure of commercial arbitration in the United States, with its governing statutes and rules, complex disputes, high stakes, and occasional judicial intervention. Arbitration is now extensively employed in virtually every field of commerce, including financial services, real estate sales and development, construction projects, contracts for goods and services, public works and procurement, energy, health care, intellectual property, insurance and re-insurance, franchising, mergers and acquisitions, entertainment, telecommunications, and international business transactions. Moreover, the United States Supreme Court has held that arbitration may be used to decide private disputes involving such public policy areas as antitrust, securities, and racketeering, which until recently were foreclosed to arbitration.