2024 Year in Review
The stats on my year in arbitration
My arbitration practice had two distinct phases this year. For the first six months, my practice was “usual” in that I had lots of different kinds of hearings and cases and wrote quite a few decisions. For the second half of the year, I was on a semi-sabbatical, only hearing expedited cases in a few industries. I had to finish a few decisions as well, but most of my cases resulted in bench decisions. I thought I would share my stats for the year.
I had 77 cases in 2024. Of those cases, 35 resulted in a decision or some other resolution after hearing (like a mediated settlement). 33 cases settled (17), were withdrawn (2), or were closed or canceled for unknown reasons (14). 3 cases were held in abeyance.
Of the hearings I held, 17 were held in person.
During my semi-sabbatical, I took myself off the arbitration rosters that I’m listed with. As I return to regular hearings, I’ve been trying to decide whether to activate my roster memberships. I don’t think that I will re-activate FMCS or AAA membership. I get very few selections from those rosters. Here’s how I got my cases:
Private selection: 32
CBA panels: 27
CA State Mediation and Conciliation and Public Employment Relations Board: 8
National Mediation Board: 4
American Arbitration Association: 2
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service: 1
WA Public Employment Relations Commission: 1
Looking ahead to 2025, I already have 52 hearings on my calendar. Of those, 34 are scheduled panel hearings. These particular hearings are all expedited panels where the parties have selected me for one day each month or every other month. One of the many reasons to set up recurring arbitration panels is that you can schedule the arbitrator’s time in advance instead of waiting for months to get a hearing date. The remaining cases on my calendar were private selections, and most of those are scheduled in the first three months of 2025, so I don’t have much availability until April 2025.
I hope you have found this as interesting as I do! Please share this publication with your colleagues and send me your questions.
Finally, if you are an arbitrator interested in learning more about joining the National Academy of Arbitrators, please register for my free presentation Navigating the NAA Application Process which will be held on-line on January 8, 2025, 4:00 p.m. PST/7:00 EST.
Happy New Year!