FIRST QUARTER 2005 VOLUME 12 NUMBER 1 - arias·us

news and
notices
CEFAREA, Paris appoints
Ernest Georgi as
Correspondent in U.S.A.
Centre Francais d’Arbitrage de
Reassurance et d’Assurance, domiciled
in Paris, recently appointed Ernest G.
Georgi as their Correspondent in the
U.S. Mr. Georgi is an ARIAS Certified
Arbitrator and experienced member of
the global reinsurance community.
CEFAREA, essentially, the French
equivalent to ARIAS•U.S. , is featured on
page 2 of this issue of the Quarterly.
In commenting on his appointment, Mr.
Georgi said,“I trust my appointment
will be useful to ARIAS•U.S. members
who may be involved in arbitration
issues emanating from the French
market and vice-versa.” Mr. Georgi is
fluent in French and worked with
French reinsurers for many years,
including his last assignment as Senior
Consultant to Guy Carpenter, Paris.
Information about CEFAREA is available,
in English and French, on its website at
www.cefarea.com .
ARIAS Website Archive
Index Links to Twenty-one
Quarterly Issues
Electronic versions of older Quarterly
issues have been recovered from stored
files and are now available on the
website through a multi-function index
and search system. Articles are listed
alphabetically by title and author’s
name, as well as, chronologically by
issue. These listings link to a portable
document format (PDF) file of the
selected issue, where the article can be
read or printed. A content or keyword
search system is being developed.
ARIAS Neutral Selection
Procedure Explained on
Website
On March 1, a new procedure was
unveiled on the ARIAS•U.S. website. In
support of the ARIAS objective of
fostering “development of arbitration
practices that resolve disputes in an
efficient, economical and just manner,”
the Society has introduced a method for
appointing a panel through a neutral
selection process. The steps of this
procedure are detailed there. Parties
entering an arbitration dispute are
invited to join together to implement it,
using the facilities of ARIAS, where
indicated. Essentially, ARIAS provides
random selection from the database of
certified arbitrators, but is not involved
in directing or monitoring the process.
ARIAS Growth Numbers
Revised Upward
At the Fall Conference last November,
retiring-Chairman Charlie Foss showed
a chart with growth estimates for 2004.
The actual numbers, by the end of
2004, showed an even faster growth
rate. Of course, workshop attendance at
a 100% increase was fixed by the fact
that the capacity was doubled.
However, other increases were as
follows: Membership +31% (vs.
estimated 22%), Conference Attendance
+32% (vs. estimated 27%), Certifications
+49% (vs. estimated 30%). Executive
Director, Bill Yankus, commented that
these rates of increase are not
sustainable and that there should be
some slowing of growth in 2005. He
could be accused of wishful thinking.
Tarrytown Workshop
Fills Up Quickly, then,
Weathers a Snowstorm
After two expanded arbitrator training
workshops at Tarrytown House last year,
with 54 student panelists in each, it was
clear that the excess demand had been
P A G E 6
satisfied. In fact, the September
workshop barely filled up, even after
registrations were opened to previous
attendees. As a result, the scale was
brought back to the previous level of 27
for this year’s March workshop.
Registrations flowed in quickly on
January 19. After ten minutes, the
workshop was fully subscribed. Over
the next hour, a waiting list of eight
names was developed. Openings would
have been filled from this list, but no
cancellations occurred.
The general sessions, at the beginning
and end of the day-long event, featured
new senior faculty members. During
these sessions, experienced arbitrators
provide guidance on what to do when
first contacted for an arbitration, how to
deal with conflicts, disclosure, and
discovery issues, as well as the
preparation of a final award. New
faculty members consisted of Andrew
Maneval, Peter Scarpato, and Andrew
Walsh. PowerPoint slides were
employed for the first time at the
workshop. The presentations were well
received.
As usual, the mock arbitration sessions
were very lively events, as the two sides
in the dispute put forth their points
with great energy and conviction. The
three law firms that presented
arguments during the mock hearings
were Butler Rubin Saltarelli & Boyd LLP;
Cozen O’Connor; and Sedwick, Detert,
Moran & Arnold, LLP.
Both students and faculty were
enthusiastic in their praise of the
experience. A distinguished service
award was presented to Amy Kelley of
Butler Rubin, who shifted hearing
rooms to fill in on all three segments of
the mock sessions when a Sedwick
attorney was trapped in Dallas by the
New York snowstorm. Everyone else
made it through.
The next workshop is planned for
September.
Board Certifies
Nineteen New Arbitrators
At its meeting on January 12, the ARIAS
Board of Directors approved
certification of eight new arbitrators,