Arbitration News

Judicial Council Approves Ethics Standards for Arbitrators

San Francisco—At a public meeting here today, the Judicial Council of California adopted comprehensive ethics standards for contractual arbitrators in California. Arbitration is an alternative method of dispute resolution held outside the traditional court system.

The new rules, the first of their kind in the country, are minimum standards of conduct for arbitrators that are designed to protect the integrity and fairness of the arbitration process.  The standards were developed by the legal staff of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) in conjunction with the 19-member Judicial Council Blue Ribbon Panel of Experts on Arbitrator Ethics, appointed by Chief Justice Ronald M. George.

As required by Senate Bill 475 (Escutia, D-Whittier), enacted last year, most of the standards will take effect July 1, 2002. The Judicial Council approved a July 1, 2003 effective date for Standard 7 (b)(12) relating to disclosure of provider rganizations’ relationships in consumer arbitrations due to the time needed to implement the requirement and related pending legislation.

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	Did You Know?
	Arbitration is different than mediation. Mediation is a method of dispute resolution whereby the disputing parties achieve a mutually-satisfactory resolution with the assistance of a mediator. Unlike arbitration sessions, mediation sessions are not “decided” in favor of one party or another; rather, the mediator simply facilitates the negotiation process between the parties. Mediating parties are not bound to resolve their dispute (although mediated settlements, once reached, can be made binding if the parties decide to draft a contract called a settlement agreement). Arbitrating parties, on the other hand, receive a final decision from the arbitrator, which is either binding or non-binding depending on the terms of the arbitration agreement.