Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
I live in California and am the defendant in a civil dispute over a real estate contract. The plaintiff is seeking one million dollars plus in damages. We are going to arbitration in march. The plaintiffs attorney is emailing me to set up a teleconference withnthe arbitrator now two months prior to the court scheduled arbitration date. Shouldn't the arbitrators office be scheduling this and shouldn't there be more than one arbitrator on this panel considering the dollar amount theyre seeking.
3 Answers from Attorneys
An Arbitrator often has one of the parties find mutually available dates to schedule. If you have some question you can ask the Arbitrator's office. As to the number of Arbitrators, it is not the dollar amount that usually determines the number of Arbitrators but the rules of the forum, or the rules under which the Arbitration is taking place--for example, if Arbitration is taking place pursuant to a written signed contract, you have to see what the contract provides. If it is not provided then it is probably up to the parties to see if they can agree, or make a motion to the Arbitrator.
You are being sued for a million bucks in arbitration and you haven't retained a lawyer yet? Is there a right to discovery under the rules of the arbitration, and have you done any? Good luck with this.
I hope you have a million dollars to pay the claimant, because that is what not having an attorney is going to cost you if you are two months out from arbitration and you don't even know why you have one arbitrator versus a panel.
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