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Arbitration Court Rules | About Arbitration About Arbitration Arbitration is a private, confidential adversarial process where the parties present evidence to a neutral decision maker (the arbitrator) who renders a written decision, called an award. The award may be binding or non-binding, depending upon the agreement between the parties. Benefits of Arbitration
Role of the Arbitrator
An arbitrator is a neutral, impartial third party who has no personal or professional relationship or affiliation with either party or their counsel and has no stake in the outcome of the dispute. The arbitrator serves as a decision maker. After hearing from the parties, legal counsel, witnesses, and reviewing all of the evidence presented, the arbitration issues a written decision (the award). The award may be binding and enforceable in court. Arbitration can be conducted by a single arbitrator, the cost of which is shared typically by both parties. Alternatively, arbitration can be conducted by a panel of three arbitrators, one chosen by each party and one chosen by both parties. In the case of more than one arbitrator, each party bears the cost of their selected arbitrator plus one-half of the cost of the mutually accepted arbitrator.
Preparing for Arbitration
SAN DIEGO SUPERIOR COURT RULES DIVISION II - CIVIL CHAPTER THREE. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (ADR) JUDICIAL ARBITRATIONRULE 2.24 JUDICIAL ARBITRATION A. Submission to Arbitration: The court elects to come within the provisions of section 1141.11 et seq. of the Code of Civil Procedure regarding judicial arbitration of all at-issue civil actions which are not exempt. All actions submitted to arbitration pursuant to these sections shall be subject to the provisions contained therein, as well as rules of procedure set forth in the California Rules of Court, rule 1600 et seq,. and in these rules. B. Policy: It is the policy of the court to discourage any unnecessary delay in civil actions. Continuances are discouraged and timely resolution of all actions, including matters submitted to any form of ADR, is encouraged. After a case is "at issue," the court may order it to judicial arbitration. Counsel must be prepared to discuss whether the arbitration will be binding or non-binding, and to select an arbitrator. Dismissal of all unserved, non-appearing, and fictitiously named parties will also be addressed. The court will propose dates to exchange information concerning expert witnesses and their discoverable reports and writings in accordance with rule 2.26. Although the demand requirement under section 2034 of the Code of Civil Procedure may be dispensed with at this hearing, all other provisions of section 2034 and rule 2.26 will be strictly enforced. Unless exempt, an action will be placed on the arbitration hearing list by the clerk of the court upon: 1. The filing of a stipulation of the parties or a written request by the plaintiff that the case be arbitrated; or 2. The filing of a demand for jury trial; or 3. Order of the court. C. Exemption from Arbitration: Matters which are exempt from judicial arbitration are set forth in the California Rules of Court, rule 1600.5, and section 1141.11 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the following categories of actions are also exempt from arbitration, as provided by the California Rules of Court, rule 1600.5(g), and will be set directly for trial: 1. Civil actions in which no jury trial is demanded and the estimated time for trial is one day or less; 2. Civil actions in which any party is not represented by counsel; and 3. Collection actions (i.e., actions primarily seeking money on an assigned claim). (Effective Jan. 1, 1998, Rev. Jan. 1, 2000, Renumbered July 1, 2001)
2. Counsel and the arbitrator are to be formally addressed as Mr., Mrs., Miss, or Ms. during the hearing; 3. At the time of the arbitration hearing, or at any other time designated by the arbitrator, each attorney shall submit to the arbitrator (not the court) the following, unless excused from doing so by the arbitrator: a. Copies of any offered pleading, arranged chronologically and appropriately highlighted; b. Copies of any offered deposition transcript or record appropriately highlighted; c. An arbitration brief consisting of: (1) A concise statement of facts; (2) Legal and factual contentions of each party;
RULE 2.26 EXCHANGE OF EXPERTS AFTER ARBITRATION Failure to comply with this rule may result in a party’s inability to call one or more expert witnesses at trial, or subject the noncomplying party to monetary sanctions.Pursuant to the stipulation of the parties at the case management conference, exchange of experts after arbitration shall be made according to the following schedule: A. Initial Exchange: Within 15 days of the date of any method of service of a trial de novo request, pursuant to section 2034 of the Code of Civil Procedure each party shall personally serve on all other parties a designation of expert witnesses who will be relied upon at the trial de novo, along with all discoverable reports and writings, if any, of those experts. However, service by mail of the above designation is permitted if made within 10 days of service of the trial de novo request. Parties will be permitted to designate only those experts they in fact intend to call at trial. It is the policy of the courts that parties are limited to one expert per side per field of expertise, pursuant to section 723 of the Evidence Code and rule 2.12, absent a court order to the contrary. B. Supplemental Exchange: Any supplemental designation of experts must be personally served within 5 days of any personal service of the opponent’s initial list, or within 10 days of any mail service of the opponent’s initial list.
Withdrawal of Trial de Novo Requests: If a party has requested trial de novo, the request may be withdrawn by a written stipulation, signed by counsel for all parties appearing in the case, that the award may be ordered as a judgment.
Stipulations for post arbitration discovery pursuant to section 1141.24 of the Code of Civil Procedure will be recognized by the court, provided that no such stipulation shall modify, extend, or avoid any procedure or deadline established by these rules or order of the court. Expert discovery is not within the prohibition of post arbitration discovery codified under section 1141.24 of the Code of Civil Procedure, but is subject to the applicable rules and orders of the court.
In addition to the provisions of the California Rules of Court, rule 1618, regarding notification of settlement, failure of the parties to notify the arbitrator and the court of a continuance or their inability to proceed at least two court days prior to the time set for the arbitration hearing may, upon written notice given by the court, result in an order to show cause why the parties should not pay $150 or other sanctions.
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