North Carolina General Statutes 1-567.43A. Disclosure by arbitrator
(a) Before accepting appointment, an individual who is requested to serve as an arbitrator, after making a reasonable inquiry, shall disclose to all parties to the agreement to arbitrate and to the arbitration proceeding and to any other arbitrators any known facts that a reasonable person would consider likely to affect the impartiality of the arbitrator in the arbitration proceeding, including the following:
(1) A financial or personal interest in the outcome of the arbitration proceeding.
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 1-567.43A
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
(2) An existing or past relationship with any of the parties to the agreement to arbitrate or to the arbitration proceeding, their counsel or representatives, a witness, or other arbitrators.
(b) An arbitrator has a continuing obligation to disclose to all parties to the agreement to arbitrate and to the arbitration and to any other arbitrators any facts that the arbitrator learns after accepting appointment that a reasonable person would consider likely to affect the impartiality of the arbitrator.
(c) If an arbitrator discloses a fact required by subsection (a) or (b) of this section to be disclosed, and a party makes a timely objection to the appointment or continued service of the arbitrator based upon the fact disclosed, the objection may be a ground under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-567.64 for vacating an award made by the arbitrator.
(d) If the arbitrator did not disclose a fact as required by subsection (a) or (b) of this section, upon timely objection by a party, the court under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-567.64 may vacate an award.
(e) An arbitrator appointed as a neutral arbitrator who does not disclose a known, direct, and material interest in the outcome of the arbitration proceeding or a known, existing, and substantial relationship with a party is presumed to act with evident partiality under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-567.64
(f) If the parties to an arbitration proceeding agree to the procedures of an institution or any other procedures for challenges to arbitrators before an award is made, substantial compliance with those procedures is a condition precedent to a motion to vacate an award on that ground under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-567.64 (2017-171, s. 1.)