Special Masters: How to Make the Best of Both Worlds (Part 1)
Washington partner Merril Hirsh had his article – “ Special Masters: How to Make the Best of Both Worlds,” Part 1 (which was co-authored with ADR practitioners Jim Rhodes and Karl Bayer) – published in Disputing on November 12. The article is, according to the publication, the first in a series that will discuss the role of Special Masters in complex litigation and how litigants can best use them to improve their litigation experience.
“The rap on arbitration for some time has been that (1) although it should be less expensive than litigation, in practice, it is not; and (2) there is a risk of having a decisionmaker get it wrong without the meaningful possibility of appeal,” the trio state. “Like most ‘raps,’ these should be preceded by ‘rightly or wrongly.’ Handled properly, arbitration should not be as expensive, but it is not always handled properly; and organizations have recently implemented appellate arbitration procedures.”