Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

When making an Arbitration Agreement with an Arbitrator are the parties to the Arbitration entitled and required by law to receive a written agreement from the Arbitrator that enumerates the services to be performed, the scope of authority he/she has or is limited by, a format for scheduling meetings, conferences or hearings, the fee amount for his/her service and or a fee schedule, and are the parties agreeing to the Arbitration required to sign the agreement with the Arbitrator, or can attorney's representing the parties just select someone of their choice and make an oral agreement to submit their clients to arbitration with the Arbitrator?

Asked on 7/21/12, 5:21 am

3 Answers from Attorneys

Kurt Seidler Law Offices of Kurt A. Seidler APC

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Yes.

Answered on 7/21/12, 4:09 pm

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Since you asked an either/or question I'm not sure what Mr. Seidler is saying "yes" to. The answer, however, is that neither option you ask about is correct. The parties themselves must agree to arbitrate. The attorneys cannot just bind their clients to arbitration without the clients authority and consent. However there certainly is no legal requirement for an agreement with all the elaborate terms and conditions you suggest in the first part of your question. I personally include most of those terms in my agreements as an arbitrator, but not all of them. For example I do not have anything about the format of meetings, conferences or hearings. That is discussed and agreed among the relevant people once the agreement is in place. Also, if the clients have authorized the attorneys to enter into the agreement with the arbitrator, the clients do not have to sign any agreement.

Answered on 7/22/12, 11:45 am

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