Law Commons^™

Predictability Of Arbitrators' Reliance On External Authority?, Paige M. Skiba, A. Levinson, E. O'Hara O'Connor

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Should arbitrators consider authority-such as statutes or case law-external to the collective bargaining agreement when deciding labor grievances? Do they rely on such external authority? If so, do they do so in particular circumstances or in certain types of cases? To provide more insight on this often-debated issue, we have amassed a new data set of hundreds of labor arbitration awards spanning a decade. In contrast to previous research, we find that the overwhelming majority of awards do not cite to any external authority (statutes, administrative authorities, case law, or secondary sources). Yet, only a small fraction of awards explicitly …

Collective Bargaining, Labor Arbitration And The Lawyer, Nathan P. Feinsinger

Vanderbilt Law Review

The role of the lawyer in labor arbitration must be appraised in the light of his function in society generally and the unique demands of the institution of collective bargaining, of which arbitration has become an integral part.

The role of the lawyer generally is to assist in resolving conflicts among individual and group interests within a framework of rules developed by the common law or by legislation, as interpreted and applied by courts and administrative agencies. Operating within that framework, the lawyer advises his client whether and how he can accomplish his immediate objective. The professional skills which he …

A Lawyer's View Of Labor Arbitration, George E. Strong

Vanderbilt Law Review

The future of labor arbitration and the viewpoint of the lawyer with reference thereto depend very largely upon the arbitrators and their procedures, conduct and decisions. Of course, the parties and their counsel are under a duty, in the words of the Code of Ethics and Procedural Standards for Labor-Management Arbitration prepared by the American Arbitration Association and the National Academy of Arbitrators and approved by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, "to approach arbitration in a spirit of cooperation with the arbitrator and should seek to aid him in the performance of his duties." Nevertheless, the arbitrator, like the …

Preparation And Presentation Of An Arbitration Case, Joseph S. Murphy

Vanderbilt Law Review

This article deals primarily with the preparation and presentation of a case in labor arbitration. However, much of what is said here is equally applicable to the preparation and presentation of a commercial case. It is clear that the comments with regard to documents, witnesses, orderly presentation, and the like are basically the same whether one is arguing that a construction contract has been breached and that the fault lies with the contractor who was guilty of delayed construction, or whether one is defending against a charge of vio- lation of an overtime clause dealing with equal distribution. In each …

Preparation And Presentation Of An Arbitration Case, Joseph S. Murphy

Vanderbilt Law Review

This article deals primarily with the preparation and presentation of a case in labor arbitration. However, much of what is said here is equally applicable to the preparation and presentation of a commercial case. It is clear that the comments with regard to documents, witnesses, orderly presentation, and the like are basically the same whether one is arguing that a construction contract has been breached and that the fault lies with the contractor who was guilty of delayed construction, or whether one is defending against a charge of violation of an overtime clause dealing with equal distribution. In each case …