One Arbitration Panel Should Decide Issue of Consolidation, Judge Rules

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A single arbitration panel will decide whether three disputes involving reinsurance of underlying asbestos losses should be consolidated for the purposes of arbitration, a North Carolina federal judge has ordered. Arrowood Indemnity Co. v. Harper Insurance Co., No. 3:12-2 (W.D. N.C.)

On Jan. 19, Chief Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina reasoned that appointing two additional arbitration panels would reflect a choice between the parties' competing understandings of the arbitration clause and an interpretation of the parties' contract. That job is solely one for an arbitrator …