Reply To: WHAT IS AN ARBITRATOR OBLIGATED TO DO WHEN A PARTY IS ABSENT?

[Patrick Deale]

The arbitrator’s duty is to make all reasonable efforts to contact the absent party and to find out the reason for the absence. Some of the examples referred to in the question would be reasonable efforts to satisfy the duty. It would not be reasonable to expect an arbitrator to apply some of the other examples – such as establishing if the party’s electronic system was working.