Standard Arbitration Clauses for the AAA and ICDR
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DRAFTING NOTES AFRICA STUDIO/Shutterstock.com Standard Arbitration Clauses for the AAA and ICDR This excerpt of Standard Clauses from our website can be used when drafting an arbitration agreement applying the rules of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) or the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR). These clauses are modeled on the standard recommended arbitration clauses of the AAA and ICDR, and have integrated notes with important explanations and drafting tips. For the complete, continuously maintained version of this resource, which includes the standard recommended clauses of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), visit Practical Law online. LEA HABER KUCK JULIE BÉDARD COLM P. McINERNEY PARTNER PARTNER ASSOCIATE SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, MEAGHER & FLOM LLP MEAGHER & FLOM LLP MEAGHER & FLOM LLP Lea concentrates her Julie concentrates her Colm focuses his practice on the resolution practice on international practice on international of complex disputes arising litigation and arbitration. litigation and arbitration. out of international business transactions. She She regularly advises clients on the drafting of He represents US and international clients represents clients in federal and state courts in dispute resolution clauses and has served as in matters involving complex corporate and the US, as well as in international arbitrations counsel in international arbitration proceedings commercial litigation, in both federal and state conducted under UNCITRAL, the ICC, ICDR, held under the auspices of the ICC, AAA, ICDR courts and in international arbitrations. London Court of International Arbitration and and International Centre for Settlement of other arbitration rules. Investment Disputes. 10 October/November 2015 | Practical Law © 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. An arbitration agreement should identify or describe: its international arm, the ICDR. The AAA is headquartered in The arbitral tribunal whose rules will govern the proceeding. New York and has administrative centers throughout the US, with a roster of more than 8,000 arbitrators. The AAA has The parties’ rights to judicial review, including the parties’ specialized rules for various industries and is divided into the ability to appeal the arbitral award. following sections: The number of arbitrators and the method for their appointment. The Commercial Division. The specific disputes subject to arbitration, including any The Construction, Real Estate and Environmental Division. disputes that may be consolidated with the arbitration or parties that may be joined to the arbitration. The ICDR. The seat of the arbitration and the language used during The Labor, Employment and Elections Division. the arbitration. The Government and Consumer Division. The parties’ expectations concerning the confidentiality of the The AAA Mediation Services. arbitration and any materials used during the proceeding. The ICDR has offices in the US, Mexico and Singapore, and The parties’ ability to obtain interim or emergency relief. has an international panel of approximately 400 arbitrators The remedies and damages that the arbitral tribunal and mediators. It also has cooperative agreements with 62 may impose. arbitral institutions in 43 countries, allowing ICDR-administered arbitrations to be filed and heard in many parts of the world. The provisions that follow are based on the text of various standard arbitration clauses recommended by the AAA and SELECTED PROVISIONS AND DRAFTING NOTES AAA CLAUSES 1.1 Arbitration of future disputes. (a) Scope, governing rules. Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement, or the breach thereof, shall be determined by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules and Mediation Procedures (“Commercial Rules”) [including, if appropriate, [the Procedures for Large, Complex Commercial Disputes] [,/and] [the International Commercial Arbitration Supplementary Procedures] [and] [the Supplementary Rules for Class Arbitrations]]. DRAFTING NOTE GOVERNING RULES Complex Procedures The AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules and Where a party’s claim or counterclaim is at Mediation Procedures (Commercial Rules) least $500,000 (not including any claimed are commonly used for domestic arbitrations interest, attorneys’ fees, arbitration fees conducted in the US between US parties. or costs), the additional Procedures for Unless the parties agree otherwise, the Large, Complex Commercial Disputes apply Commercial Rules used are those in effect unless the parties agree otherwise (R. 1(c), when both: Commercial Rules). These rules require A demand for arbitration has been filed the parties to address certain procedural with the AAA. aspects of the arbitration at the preliminary conference with the arbitrator, including the The administrative requirements to scope of discovery and whether depositions commence an arbitration have been may be taken (L-3, Procedures for Large, satisfied. Complex Commercial Disputes). (R. 1(a), Commercial Rules.) By contrast, where no claim or counterclaim exceeds $75,000 (not including any claimed Search AAA Arbitration: A Step-By-Step Guide for more on arbitrations under the interest, attorneys’ fees, arbitration fees Commercial Rules. or costs), the AAA’s Expedited Procedures apply unless the parties provide otherwise © 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. The Journal | US Arbitration | October/November 2015 11 DRAFTING NOTES (R. 1(b), Commercial Rules). Among other held a tribunal had exceeded its authority things, the Expedited Procedures require under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) a hearing to be set within 30 days of the by ordering class arbitration based on an arbitrator’s appointment and the arbitrator arbitration provision that was silent on must render an award within 14 days of resolving class-wide claims. The decision the hearing (R. E-7, E-8, E-9, Expedited stressed the importance of the parties’ Procedures). Under certain circumstances, consent to class arbitrations and rejected the parties may want an expedited the notion that parties can impliedly consent arbitration even where the amount in to class arbitration. (See Stolt-Nielsen S.A. dispute exceeds $75,000. However, v. AnimalFeeds Int’l Corp., 559 U.S. 662, an expedited process generally is not 685-87 (2010).) recommended for complex arbitrations. The Supreme Court has gone on to provide International Arbitration additional guidance on the availability of the class-wide arbitration of claims. In AT&T Where the parties have designated the Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, it upheld an Commercial Rules, or other domestic arbitration agreement that included a waiver procedural rules, but the arbitration is of class arbitration (131 S. Ct. 1740, 1750-53 deemed an international proceeding due to (2011)). The Supreme Court also upheld a the nationality of the parties or their parent class arbitration waiver even where the cost companies, the International Commercial of individually arbitrating the claim might Arbitration Supplementary Procedures be greater than the claimant’s potential (International Supplementary Procedures) recovery (see Am. Express Co. v. Italian Colors also apply. Among other things, these Rest., 133 S. Ct. 2304, 2309, 2312 (2013)). procedures: However, another recent decision upheld an Specify how an arbitrator may be arbitrator’s determination that the parties’ challenged for alleged partiality or lack agreement permitted class arbitration, even of independence (R. 1, International though the clause was facially silent (see Supplementary Procedures). Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, 133 S. Ct. Require the default language of the 2064, 2069-71 (2013)). arbitration to be that of the documents Although the Class Rules explicitly containing the arbitration agreement, provide that their existence should not subject to the authority of the tribunal to be a factor in determining whether the determine otherwise (R. 5, International parties consented to class arbitration, at Supplementary Procedures). least two federal district courts have held Require the tribunal to state its reason that invoking the AAA rules is relevant for its award, unless the parties in determining whether a court or the agree otherwise (R. 6, International arbitrator should decide if the parties have Supplementary Procedures). agreed to class arbitration. These courts found that the parties’ inclusion of the AAA Class Arbitration rules in arbitration agreements necessarily Since 2003, the Commercial Rules have demonstrated their consent to the Class included the Supplementary Rules for Class Rules, and therefore, to have the arbitrator Arbitrations (Class Rules) for arbitrations decide whether the agreement allows class where a party submits a dispute on behalf arbitration. (Crook v. Wyndham Vacation of or against a class or purported class Ownership, Inc., 2015 WL 4452111, at *1, (R. 1, Class Rules). Arbitrators have applied *8 (N.D. Cal. Jul. 20, 2015); Chesapeake the Class Rules even where the arbitration Appalachia, LLC v. Burkett, 2014 WL 5312829, clause was silent on the issue of class at *8 (M.D. Pa. Oct. 17, 2014).) arbitration. However, the Courts of Appeals for both the However, the US Supreme Court cast doubt Third and Sixth Circuits have held that the on this practice with a 2010 decision that 12 October/November 2015