Introduction

United States law and practice regarding the disclosure obligations of arbitrators with respect to potential conflicts of interest is simply unsettled, and nothing that occurred in 2007 has relieved us of our uncertainties. Recent appellate rulings in the Second, Fifth and Ninth US Circuit Courts of Appeal approach the conflicts disclosure and investigation duties of arbitrators in similar yet distinctly different manners. Moreover, the "Best Practices for Meeting Disclosure Requirements under the RUAA and Similar Arbitrator Disclosure Standards" (ABA Draft Guidelines) ...