{"id":1302,"date":"2019-06-26T09:30:09","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T14:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.texasdivorceattorneyblog.com\/?p=1302"},"modified":"2019-06-26T09:30:09","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T14:30:09","slug":"arbitrators-evident-partiality-in-texas-divorce-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcclure-lawgroup.com\/blog\/arbitrators-evident-partiality-in-texas-divorce-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Arbitrator&#8217;s Evident Partiality in Texas Divorce Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many couples facing a Texas divorce seek alternative dispute resolutions, such as arbitration or mediation.\u00a0 Parties to an arbitration are entitled to an impartial arbitrator.\u00a0 The Texas Arbitration Act requires a court to vacate an arbitration award on the application of a party if that party\u2019s rights were prejudiced by \u201cevident partiality\u201d of an arbitrator.\u00a0 The award should be vacated if the arbitrator does not disclose information that might give an objective observer a reasonable impression that the arbitrator is partial.\u00a0 The requirement to disclose applies whether the conflict arises before or during the proceedings.\u00a0 The nondisclosure itself establishes evident partiality, regardless of whether there is actual partiality or bias.\u00a0 Texas courts have acknowledged that extensive experience in the area of law related to the dispute will result in a need for the arbitrator to disclose prior dealings with parties or attorneys.\u00a0 However, the parties should be informed and have the opportunity to evaluate the potential bias ahead of time.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent case, a wife <a href=\"https:\/\/cases.justia.com\/texas\/fourteenth-court-of-appeals\/2019-14-17-00869-cv.pdf?ts=1557232686\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">challenged<\/a> an arbitration award based on the arbitrator\u2019s failure to disclose his connection to the husband\u2019s attorney.\u00a0 The parties agreed to arbitration pursuant to their pre-marital agreement. In the initial status conference, the arbitrator said he did not have a material relationship with either party or their attorneys beyond normal professional relationships. He did not supplement his disclosures after a new attorney filed a notice of appearance on behalf of the husband as co-counsel.<\/p>\n<p>When the arbitrator failed to issue an award within the time frame set by the court, the husband\u2019s attorney requested a ruling.\u00a0 In her email, she stated, \u201cYou know how much I think of you as a friend and a lawyer . . .\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0The arbitrator issued the award several days after the email, ruling in favor of the husband and against most of the wife\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcclure-lawgroup.com\/blog\/arbitrators-evident-partiality-in-texas-divorce-case\/#more-1302\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many couples facing a Texas divorce seek alternative dispute resolutions, such as arbitration or mediation.\u00a0 Parties to an arbitration are entitled to an impartial arbitrator.\u00a0 The Texas Arbitration Act requires a court to vacate an arbitration award on the application of a party if that party\u2019s rights were prejudiced by \u201cevident partiality\u201d of an arbitrator.\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-divorce"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Arbitrator&#039;s Evident Partiality in Texas Divorce Case &#8212; Texas Divorce Attorney Blog &#8212; June 26, 2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many couples facing a Texas divorce seek alternative dispute resolutions, such as arbitration or mediation.\u00a0 Parties to an arbitration are entitled to an &#8212; June 26, 2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mcclure-lawgroup.com\/blog\/arbitrators-evident-partiality-in-texas-divorce-case\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Arbitrator&#039;s Evident Partiality in Texas Divorce Case &#8212; Texas Divorce Attorney Blog &#8212; June 26, 2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Many couples facing a Texas divorce seek alternative dispute resolutions, such as arbitration or mediation.\u00a0 Parties to an arbitration are entitled to an &#8212; June 26, 2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mcclure-lawgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/collaborative-law.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kelly McClure\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Arbitrator's Evident Partiality in Texas Divorce Case &#8212; 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