Arbitration Rules

ARBITRATION RULES
JUDICIAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION

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The following Arbitration Rules will be applied by the Panelists at Judicial Dispute Resolution (JdR) where not in conflict with the requirements of Washington law (see e.g., RCW Chapter 7.04A, the Uniform Arbitration Act). The goal of these rules is to provide parties to civil disputes with fair, expeditious, and final decisions. If the parties agree to other rules or procedures, they will be enforced as long as not contrary to law. Where an issue is not covered by these rules or by stipulation of the parties, the Superior Court Rules (CR), the Local Rules of the Superior Court for King County (LR) and RCW 7.04A, et seq., will govern. 

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1. Commencement of an Arbitration: An arbitration is commenced when the parties agree to arbitrate or either party serves a Notice of Intention to arbitrate consistent with RCW 7.04A.090 on the other party/parties and on JdR, describing the nature of the controversy and the remedy sought. 

2. Selection of an Arbitrator: If the parties have not agreed upon an Arbitrator, JdR will provide them with a strike list within seven days of receipt of the Notice of Intention to Arbitrate and administrative filing fee. The parties will attempt to agree on an Arbitrator. If agreement is not reached, each party will return the strike list and the case administrator will notify the parties of the arbitrator appointment. If the parties do not return the strike list, JdR will deem all Arbitrators to be acceptable. 

3. Initial Conference Call: Within seven days of service on JdR of Notice of Intention to Arbitrate that designates an Arbitrator, or upon selection of an Arbitrator from the strike list, JdR will schedule an initial conference call between the Arbitrator and the parties. During this initial conference call, a hearing date will be selected, a discovery schedule established, and other case schedule dates may be established. 

4. Discovery Schedule: Consistent with the goal of an efficient resolution of the dispute, discovery will be limited to matters essential to establish or defend the claim. Therefore, absent the agreement of the parties or other order of the Arbitrator, each party will be allowed to propound not more than ten requests for production of documents, ten interrogatories, and take not more than five depositions each lasting no longer than four hours.

5. Pre-hearing matters: Pre-hearing disputes will be determined by telephone conference call, video conference, or by written motion.

6. The Arbitration Hearing: The format of the hearing (whether in-person or virtual) will be determined by the Arbitrator after consultation with the parties. If conducted in-person, the Arbitration hearing will be conducted at JdR's offices, unless agreed otherwise. The parties are expected to attend, either in person or by counsel. 

7. The Arbitration Award: The Arbitrator will make every effort to promptly issue a written Award following the conclusion of the hearing.