An arbitrator acts like a "private judge" for parties who want a neutral third party to make a
decision about their rights and obligations. Arbitration is a more formal, structured process
than mediation. The parties each present their side of the dispute to the arbitrator,
who makes a decision.
An arbitrator may be appointed in a number of different ways, including:
the parties may agree on the person they want to act as arbitrator;
the parties may agree on a person or organization to appoint an arbitrator.
The parties pay the arbitrator. In some arbitrations, there may be a panel of three arbitrators,
but it is less expensive for the parties to pay only one arbitrator.
An arbitrator must:
be neutral and impartial;
ensure the hearing is fair to all parties;
ensure that the rules governing the arbitration are followed;
make a finding about the issue(s) in dispute, and
issue a written decision or award.
At Pacific Centre for Dispute Resolution, our arbitrators write clear and concise decisions that
all parties can understand.
An arbitration will be more informal than a court process, but it will almost always involve:
oral evidence from each party about the issue(s) in dispute;
submissions from each party about the issue(s) in dispute; and
a binding decision made by the arbitrator.
At Pacific Centre for Dispute Resolution, our arbitrators have years of experience arbitrating
a wide range of disputes. All of our arbitrators have experience arbitrating:
single issue disputes;
multi-issue disputes;
multi-party disputes;
disputes where no parties are represented by lawyers;
disputes where only one of the parties is represented by a lawyer; and
disputes where all parties are represented by lawyers.
If you wish to find out more about having one of our dispute resolution professionals act as
an arbitrator for a dispute, please contact us. If the dispute proceeds to
arbitration, all correspondence between you and the arbitrator will be provided to the other
party to the dispute, to ensure fairness.
