Are Arbitration Proceedings Confidential??

Arbitration Download estreicher.txt is another excellent New York Law Journal article by Professor Sam Estreicher and attorney Steven Bennett dated August 13, 2008. As the article explains the law with regard to whether arbitration proceedings is all over the map. The authors state:

The ease with which parties are able to hold closed-door arbitration proceedings may provide a false sense of security regarding the confidentiality of arbitral proceedings.

Unsuspecting parties may be lulled into believing that their closed-door proceedings are confidential, only to find later that they failed to safeguard the confidentiality of the proceedings properly and that arbitral materials from the proceedings are subject to disclosure.

There is no hard and fast legal rule regarding the confidentiality of arbitration proceedings and related materials (such as pleadings, briefs and transcripts of proceedings), and the scope of confidentiality largely depends on where the proceedings are held, which arbitral body's rules govern, and whether the parties have acted proactively to preserve confidentiality.¹

A Presumption of Confidentiality?

The various rules, statutes, and state laws governing arbitration comprise a patchwork of confidentiality protection for arbitration, making a presumption of confidentiality far from certain. Most arbitration-sponsoring organizations maintain rules that reference some element of confidentiality. .  .

The authors advise parties who desire the arbitration to be confidential to ask that the arbitrator issue a confidentiality ruling. That certainly seems like good advise.

Law review commentary is surely needed with respect to this important topic.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein