Summary

This article discusses the decisions of various New York courts, which have held that a tribunal's mere knowledge that one party has not paid its share of the arbitrators' fees may provide grounds to stay the arbitration or to vacate or challenge confirmation of the arbitral award on grounds of bias. This case law may result in a particularly absurd result when parties seek to avail themselves of express procedures sanctioning the non-paying party but then find the award subject to challenge on the grounds of arbitrator bias.