This discussion is focused on parties who select arbitration seated in Annapolis, Maryland and the surrounding DMV region.
Contract arbitration in Annapolis, Maryland is the private-law equivalent of a bench trial. The parties select a private judge to apply their agreement and the governing law without the delays and formality of crowded court dockets.
In my role as a neutral, I treat each contract arbitration as a disciplined, documents-first process. The key questions are:
. What did the parties actually agree to in writing?
. What performance occurred or failed to occur?
. How does the governing law allocate risk and remedies?
Important authorities that shape modern contract arbitration include *Rent-A-Center, West, Inc. v. Jackson*, 561 U.S. 63 (2010) on delegation clauses, and *BG Group PLC v. Republic of Argentina*, 572 U.S. 25 (2014) on how arbitrators interpret procedural conditions in arbitration clauses.
Artificial intelligence may help organize exhibits, but it cannot weigh credibility, apply equity, or sense when a party is using process as a weapon. Those are human judicial functions. A private judge has to exercise judgment, not just pattern-matching.
Sincerely,
Zarak O. Ali, Arb.