What is an Arbitrators Duty of Disclosure?
An arbitrator undertakes an awesome responsibility. He or she will be judge, jury, clerk, stenographic reporter and appellate review tribunal compressed into a single individual. When an arbitrator decides a case it is assumed that the arbitrator heard the evidence, understood it completely and applied the law and/or principles of justice and equity to achieve the correct result. The parties must have complete confidence in the arbitrator’s fairness and integrity and in his or her ability to do all of these things. How do the parties know that the person they selected has these attributes and will do these things? In classic arbitration they knew and trusted the individual. The arbitrator was the wise old man on the fishing boat dock, whom everyone knew, and who was trusted to know more about fish than anyone else. The fishermen were able to place complete confidence in him because they knew him intimately. Today we have gone to the opposite extreme. The arbitrator who is sufficiently
