Section 43 Qualification and Number of Arbitrators

• Library: Arbitration and Mediation 2011

Typically, one arbitrator presides over an arbitration. In larger matters, three arbitrators may form a panel. For example, under the AAA Rules, any dispute of $1 million or more requires a panel of three arbitrators to hear and decide the arbitration. AAA Commercial Rule L‑2(a), available at:

^{www.adr.org/sp.asp?id=22440#L2}

An arbitrator does not have to be an attorney. Rather, an arbitrator can be:

· a contractor;

· an engineer;

· an architect;

· a banker;

· an accountant;

· an education professor;

· a doctor; or

· somebody else.

This allows the parties to draw from broad experience when deciding who is most appropriate to hear and render an award on their dispute. With a panel of three, there is a chair, who is typically an attorney.

Selecting an arbitrator is an important decision. Parties try, with great effort, to obtain the best, most fair-minded arbitrator to decide their dispute. Sometimes, parties will only agree to arbitration if the hearing can be in front of one specified person. For example, in Jackson County v. McClain Enterprises, Inc., 190 S.W.3d 633 (Mo. App. W.D. 2006), Jackson County brought a lawsuit against an excavating company. In an exchange of letters between...