Recent Developments In Arbitrator Disclosure Law And Practice

Two developments during 2007 in the law and practice of arbitrator disclosure show that the rules remain far from settled. In the United States, the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) provides that an arbitral award may be vacated "where there was evident partiality or corruption" of an arbitrator. The Positive Software case involved a former co-counsel relationship with a sole arbitrator's prior law firm more than ten years previously. Article V(2)(b) of the New York Convention permits a refusal to enforce if doing so would violate the public policy of the enforcing state. Case law and the New York Convention are not the only texts relevant to arbitrator disclosure. The Chartered Institute Guideline is devoted largely to the mechanics of what counsel and arbitrators should not say and do; but it also addresses the process of dialogue by which arbitrator disclosures can be made.Keywords:arbitrator disclosure; case law; Chartered Institute Guideline; Federal Arbitration Act (FAA); New York Convention; Positive Software case; United States