Expedited Arbitration Rules
Preamble
There is a strong desire among those who have disputes to control the time and cost of a binding dispute resolution process. To create an efficient and cost-effective arbitration process, these Rules, among other things, restrict the length of material that may be presented and time to present evidence and argument. The arbitrator may not extend these limits unless all parties agree. The arbitrator will be expected to manage the proceedings actively and aggressively to ensure adherence to these Rules.
By agreeing to proceed under these Rules, the parties acknowledge the restrictions and agree that the Rules will give them a fair and reasonable opportunity to present their case and respond to the case presented by the other side.
-
Arbitration Under These Rules
The purpose of these Rules is to provide a cost-effective, simple procedure for parties to a dispute who wish to achieve a prompt, practical and just resolution, without extensive pre-hearing procedures or going to court.
These Rules will apply whenever the parties agree in writing to have their dispute decided “under the Expedited Arbitration Rules of ADR Chambers” or words to that effect.
Where these Rules are silent, the arbitrator will have the discretion to control the process in such a way as he or she deems appropriate.
These Rules may be changed by the agreement of the parties to the dispute, provided that the changes are not contrary to applicable law. Any changes must be made in writing and filed with the arbitrator within time limits described by these Rules. To the extent that changes may require the arbitrator to spend more time than is contemplated by these Rules, the fee for the arbitration may be increased above the fees set out in these Rules.
In these Rules, a “page”(when restricting length of documents) is considered to be double-spaced using 12-point font.
Where these Rules require that a communication be in writing, email and fax correspondence are acceptable unless otherwise stated.
-
Starting The Arbitration
Any party (the “Claimant”) can start an arbitration under these Rules by sending a Notice to Arbitrate to the other party to the dispute (the “Respondent”) and sending a copy to ADR Chambers.
-
Notice to Arbitrate
The Notice to Arbitrate must be in writing and must contain or attach the following:
(a) name, address, phone number, facsimile number and e-mail address of all parties;
(b) a brief (maximum 2 page) description of the dispute;
(c) the relief sought; and
(d) a copy of the agreement (or other document) that gives the ADR Chambers arbitrator jurisdiction to decide the dispute pursuant to these Rules. -
Response to the Notice to Arbitrate
A party who receives a Notice to Arbitrate (the “Respondent”) must deliver a Response to the Notice to Arbitrate within 5 business days after receiving the Notice to Arbitrate. The Response must be in writing with a copy to ADR Chambers, and must contain confirmation of the accuracy (or corrections to) the names and contact information in the Notice to Arbitrate and a brief (maximum 2 page) description of the dispute, if different from the description provided by the Claimant.
-
Appointment of Arbitrator
The arbitration will be conducted by a single arbitrator selected from the ADR Chambers list of arbitrators on the ADR Chambers Expedited Arbitrations roster.
The parties to the dispute may select the arbitrator by agreement. If ADR Chambers is not notified of the selection of an arbitrator by agreement of the parties within 5 business days after the Response has been delivered (or within 10 business days after the Notice to Arbitrate was delivered if no Response is delivered), ADR Chambers will select the arbitrator based on the description of the dispute in the Notice and Response and on the availability of arbitrators.
-
Fees and Deposit
For a two-party arbitration with an oral hearing, each party must pay a deposit of $5,000 plus facilities fee and taxes when filing its Notice to Arbitrate or its Response.
For arbitrations with more than two parties with an oral hearing, a fee of $14,000 must be paid one-half by the Claimant(s) and one-half by the Respondent(s) when filing their Notices to Arbitrate or their Responses.
-
Procedure
Unless the parties agree to a different procedure, the procedure shall be as set out in these Rules. The arbitrator will have no discretion to alter these Rules unless the parties unanimously agree to the alteration, or unless these Rules specifically grant the arbitrator the discretion to alter the Rules (such as is set out in sub-section 9(e)(ii).
-
Initial Meeting
(a) Once appointed, the arbitrator will convene an initial meeting with the lawyers for the parties in order to determine the date and procedure for the arbitration, and the timetable. The initial meeting will be by conference call (except in unusual circumstances as determined by the arbitrator), will occur within one week of the appointment of the arbitrator and will last no more than 1 hour except on consent of the arbitrator.
(b) Issues discussed at the initial meeting may include:
(i) date of the oral hearing, if applicable;(c) The initial meeting, and any other meetings to discuss or determine preliminary issues, may take place by conference call.
(ii) procedure to be followed including whether there will be an oral hearing, whether the arbitration will be Final Offer Selection or a No Reasons arbitration, whether there will be a mediation before the arbitration, etc.;
(iii) Whether there will be a reporter (at extra cost paid directly by the parties to the reporter);
(iv) whether the parties will prepare a common documents brief;
(v) clarification of the issues the arbitrator is asked to decide; and
(vi) setting specific dates for the tasks required in these Rules (as limited by the time constraints in these Rules).
-
Process
Unless otherwise agreed, the process will be as follows:
(a) The oral hearing will be held within two months of the appointment of the arbitrator.
(b) Four weeks before the date scheduled for the oral hearing, the Claimant shall provide a brief to the Respondent and to ADR Chambers containing the following:
(i) a memorandum (maximum 20 pages in length) setting out the Claimant’s position on the issues and any arguments that party intends to make;(c) The Claimant shall produce copies of documents that are only in the Claimant’s possession if they may be detrimental to the Claimant’s case. These documents shall be produced along with the documents relied on by the Claimant
(ii) copies of any cases (maximum of 5) that the Claimant intends to rely on in the arbitration;
(iii) copies of any documents (maximum 20 documents and 200 pages) the Claimant considers relevant or intends to rely on. An excerpt from a document is acceptable but is considered one document. For clarity a series of connected documents such as a series of emails or a series of letters may be considered one document; and
(iv) affidavits of the evidence in chief of a maximum of two witnesses, with a combined maximum length of 40 pages;
(v) there will be no expert reports and no evidence of an expert witness.
(d) Two weeks before the date scheduled for the arbitration, the Respondent shall provide to the Claimant and to ADR Chambers the information and documentation as set out above in sub-sections 9(b) and 9(c) (modified to apply to the Respondent rather than the Claimant).
(c) One week before the scheduled date for the arbitration, the Claimant may submit a written reply of no more than five pages.
(d) There will be no oral or other documentary discovery.
(e) There will be no preliminary motions other than:
(i) requests for increases to the page limitations for documents as set out in these Rules, in extraordinary circumstances.
(ii) requests to extend the timeframes set out in these Rules because of illness or extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances. For the sake of clarity, lawyers’ other work commitments are not grounds for extending time.Such motions will take place by conference call (arranged by the arbitrator) with no written submissions.(f) The arbitration hearing shall last no more than one day for a two-party arbitration and two days for a multiple party arbitration. The hearing will commence at 9:30 a.m.; have one morning break of 15 minutes; break at 1:00 pm for lunch; resume at 2:00 pm; have one afternoon break; and conclude no later than 5:00 p.m.
(g) Each side will have a maximum of one half hour to present its opening argument and to summarize the affidavit evidence of its witnesses.
(h) Each side shall have a maximum of 1 hour to cross-examine the other side’s witnesses.
(i) Each party shall have a maximum of 1 hour for closing argument. The Claimant may reserve up to 10 minutes of its hour for reply if it so chooses.
(j) The arbitrator shall enforce the time limitations set out in these Rules. If the parties fail to abide by the limitations in these Rules, the arbitrator will only consider evidence submitted within the time and page allowances prescribed by these Rules.
-
Rules of Evidence
All information is admissible at the hearing and need not be proven in accordance with the Rules of evidence. The Arbitrator will decide how much weight to attach to any information.
-
Mediation
The parties may elect to attend a half-day or full-day mediation in an attempt to settle the dispute prior to arbitration. Fees for the mediation can be found on the ADR Chambers website.
-
In Writing Arbitration
The parties may elect to waive their right to an oral hearing. In such a case, the arbitrators will set dates by which they must submit their memoranda and affidavit evidence, still within the page limitations set out above. In such case, the total fee for a two-party arbitration will be $5,000 plus taxes and the total fee for an arbitration with more than two parties will be $7,000 plus taxes.
-
No Reasons
Where the parties have specified that their arbitration will be a “No Reasons” arbitration, or words to that effect, this section will apply.
The parties in a two-party arbitration may elect an arbitration with no written reasons. In such a case, the arbitration will be a Final Offer Selection. Each party, in its brief, will submit its final offer. The arbitrator may only select one final offer, in its entirety, without modifications. No reasons will be given for the selection. The total fee for a No Reasons arbitration with an oral hearing will be $6,000 plus taxes and the fee for a No Reasons arbitration without an oral hearing will be $2,000 plus taxes. -
Full Answer and Defence
The parties agree that arbitration under these Rules provides both sides with an opportunity to present its case and respond to the case of the other side. The parties also agree that sparse or abbreviated reasons are acceptable as part of the Expedited Arbitration process and do not provide grounds for appeal or judicial review.
-
Interest
The arbitrator may order simple interest to be paid, if applicable, and the date from which interest runs.
-
Costs
The arbitrator may determine liability for the costs of the arbitration and may apportion costs between the parties or to one of the parties. In awarding costs, the arbitrator may take into account the conduct of the parties in the proceedings. If there is an order with respect to costs, the order will stipulate a payment as between the parties, as the arbitration fees will already be on deposit. There will be no order with respect to legal costs as each party will bear his, her or its own legal costs.
-
Cancellation or Adjournment
If the matter is cancelled or adjourned more than one month prior to the oral hearing, 75% of the arbitration fee will be refunded; if the matter is cancelled or adjourned more than one week prior to an oral hearing but less than one month before the oral hearing, one-half of the fee for the arbitration will be refunded to the parties. If the matter is cancelled or adjourned within one week of the oral hearing, 25% of the fees for arbitration will be refunded to the parties.
-
Timing of Decision and Reason
The arbitrator will release the decision No Reasons arbitration within 5 business days of the conclusion of the hearing. In other arbitrations, reasons will be released within 10 business days of the conclusion of the hearing. Reasons will be brief and need not set out the arguments of the parties, except to the extent necessary to explain the arbitrator’s reasoning.
For In Writing arbitrations, the decision will be released no more than 5 business days after the submission of the Claimant’s reply (or the time for submitting the Reply has expired). Reasons will be released no more than 15 business days after the submission of the Claimant’s reply (or the time for submitting the Reply has expired).
The arbitrator does not lose jurisdiction by a failure to complete and release the award in the time specified.
Neither the decision no the reasons will be released unless and until the total fee for the arbitration is paid by all parties. -
Amendments and Corrections to the Award
(a) On the application of a party or on the arbitrator’s own initiative, an arbitrator may amend an award to correct a clerical or typographical error, an accidental error, slip, omission or similar mistake, or an arithmetical error made in a computation.
(b) An application by a party under subsection 19(a) must be made within 5 business days after the Reasons are released.
-
Finality of Award
An arbitration award under these Rules is final and binding on the parties and is not subject to an appeal or review on any grounds including (without limitation) lack of jurisdiction, except where the law in the location where the arbitration is held requires a right of appeal to be maintained.
For clarity, the failure of an arbitrator to comply with a provision of these Rules will not provide the basis for an appeal of the award.
-
Privacy and Confidentiality of Arbitration
(a) The arbitration shall be private and confidential. All persons (including witnesses) other than parties and their representatives may only attend an oral hearing with the consent of all the parties.
(b) The parties agree that they will not seek to compel the arbitrator, nor any of ADR Chambers’ employees to appear as a witness or expert in any pending or future legal or judicial or other adversarial proceeding involving any one or more of the parties and relating in any way to the subject matter of the arbitration.
-
Immunity
None of ADR Chambers, the arbitrator, nor any member of ADR Chambers’ staff will be liable to any party, lawyer or witness, or officer, director or employee of any party for any act or omission in connection with an arbitration. The parties jointly and severally indemnify and hold harmless ADR Chambers, its staff and the arbitrator in respect of such claims. The arbitrator will have the same protections and immunities as a judge of the superior court in the province, state or territory where the arbitration is held. -
Amendment to Rules
These Rules may be amended by ADR Chambers in its sole discretion. Amendments become effective when they are posted to the ADR Chambers website but the Rules in effect when the arbitration is confirmed by ADR Chambers will be the Rules that govern.
The parties also agree that abbreviated and incomplete reasons are acceptable as part of the Expedited Arbitration process and do not provide grounds for appeal or judicial review.
