Opinion ID: 2169455
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Code of Ethics and Mandatory Disclosure

Text: In its amicus curiae brief in support of plaintiff, RITLA invites this Court to make an explicit holding within the confines of a Grabbert analysis that party-appointed arbitrators be required to disclose any conflicts, and that a failure to disclose should result in an automatic vacating of the award. [2] RITLA bases this argument on the 2004 revisions to the Code of Ethics, asserting that the amendments to the Code of Ethics lead logically to a more explicit rule from this Court regarding disclosure requirements. RITLA suggests that party-appointed arbitrators still may retain a role in the arbitration process as long as all conflicts, especially direct conflicts, are fully disclosed. We hesitate to adopt the implication of RITLA's argument: That the revised Code of Ethics weakens the important causal nexus provision in certain cases. The nature of party-appointed arbitrators makes clear that some kind of relationship exists between the party-appointed arbitrator and the party who appointed him or her. We agree that disclosure of the nature of the relationship lends further transparency to an important proceeding; however, RITLA's argument would be precariously close to the idea that any relationship between a party-appointed arbitrator and the party who appointed him or her is automatically indicative of evident partiality as a matter of law  and we are disinclined to go that far. We acknowledged in Grabbert that the Code of Ethics offers guidance to this Court in undertaking analyses of the arbitration requirements. We have not wavered from that belief, but the guidance offered by the Code of Ethics is not sufficient to dilute the causal nexus requirement set out in the Grabbert test. Considering the nature of the party-appointed arbitrator and the principles of our arbitration system, such a rule would be inefficient and counterproductive. We decline to alter the Grabbert analysis by adopting the Code of Ethics requirement as law. Although we decline to explicitly adopt the holding requested by RITLA, we do not call into question the increased disclosure requirements under the revised Code of Ethics. We encourage full disclosure from arbitrators, while acknowledging that the very nature of the tripartite arbitrator system indicates to all that some relationship exists between each party and his or her appointed arbitrator. The parties to an arbitration have agreed to settle their dispute without a judge; judicial economy dictates that our interference be limited to instances that we deem appropriate. [3] That said, we remind and encourage all party-appointed arbitrators: When in doubt, disclose.