What Arbitrators Need to Know

With the large number of force majeure notices companies have issued due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many disputes are arising over which party in the supply chain should bear losses. Some of these disputes will inevitably require the intervention of a neutral decision-maker. But do the parties have to arbitrate this confict when one party’s standard form contains an arbitration clause, but the other party’s form does not? When an arbitration clause delegates arbitrability to an arbitrator, the neutral may need to decide if parties agreed to arbitrate their dispute by applying the “battle of the forms” principles under the applicable state’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). CIArb Fellow Sarah Reynolds and commercial arbitrator Charles Harris, both partners in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice at Mayer Brown LLP will provide related insights in this one-hour CLE program.