Effective July 2008, Appendix I – Schedule of Nonrefundable Administration Fees contained in the Rules of Procedures for Arbitration and Mediation, has been amended for requesting a list of Hearing Officers. The fee for a Hearing Officer list has been reduced from $1,500 to $900.
Code of Ethics, Section 3.02 Required Disclosures
The amended Code of Ethics for Arbitrators, Section 3.02 Required Disclosures, second paragraph, reads as follows:
After appropriate disclosure of a direct and contemporaneous interest other than a directly adverse interest, the arbitrator may serve if all parties consent.
The amended Code of Ethics for Mediators, Section 3.02 Required Disclosures, second paragraph, reads as follows:
After appropriate disclosure of a direct and contemporaneous interest other than a directly adverse interest, the mediator may serve if all parties consent.
The Rules of Procedures for Arbitration and Mediation have been amended, effective October 1, 2007, as shown below:
Administrative Fee
Effective October 1, 2007, the Administrative Fee for the first panel of ten dispute resolvers is $2,500 (see Appendix I of the Rules of Procedure for Arbitration and Mediation). The administrative fee helps to defray some of the considerable expenses during the process of appointing an arbitrator or mediator.
Other Rules Amendments effective October 1, 2007:
1. Counting of Days.
The Rules of Procedure for Arbitration, Section 6.03 Counting of Days and Rules of Procedure for Mediation, Section 4.03 Counting of Days, have been amended in connection with the ten-day period for the appointment of an arbitrator or mediator. The revised Rules' Sections 6.03 and 4.03, respectively, read as follows:
Counting of Days
In instances in which the counting of days is required by these Rules, the day of the event shall count, but the day upon which a notice, process or other communication would otherwise be required sent shall not count. If the date on which some action is to be taken, a notice, process, or other communication would otherwise be required to be sent or a period would otherwise expire, falls on a holiday, a Saturday or a Sunday, such action shall be taken, such notice, process, or other communication sent or such period extended to the next succeeding Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, which is not a holiday. For purposes of the Rules, the term "holiday" means such days as are recognized as holidays by the United States Postal Service.
"Days" for purposes of these Rules mean "business days." Thus, Saturdays and Sundays are not counted as a "day" under these Rules. When Saturdays and Sundays are to be counted, the Rules will indicate "calendar days."
2. Minor changes also have been made in the following Sections:
Section 2.01(b) Procedures for Requesting Arbitrator Lists
Section 4.09 Appointment of Panel of Arbitrators
Section 5.01(a) Expedited Procedures
The Rules of Procedures for Arbitration was amended, effective June 2006, as shown below:
The American Health Lawyers Association's Alternative Dispute Resolution Service [the Service] has amended its rules for consumer health care liability claims filed with the Service after January 1, 2004.
Effective June 2006, the Service will administer a "consumer health care liability claim" on or after January 1, 2004 only if (1) all of the parties have agreed in writing to arbitrate the claim after the injury has occurred and a copy of the agreement is received by the Service at the time the parties make a request for a list of arbitrators or (2) a judge orders that the Service administer an arbitration under the terms of a pre-injury agreement.
In limiting the circumstances under which the Service will administer the arbitration of a consumer health care liability claim, the Service does not intend to affect the enforceability of an agreement to apply the Rules—only that the Service will not administer the arbitration.
For purposes of the Rules, a consumer health care liability claim means a claim in which a current or former patient or a current or former patient's representative (including his or her estate or family) alleges that an injury was caused by the provision of (or the failure to provide) health care services or medical products by a health care provider or the manufacturer, distributor, supplier, or seller of a medical product.
The Service will continue to administer all other kinds of claims whether the agreement to arbitrate or mediate was entered into pre or post alleged injury.
The ADR Service is an important service offered by the Association, and we encourage attorneys to use this Service to resolve conflicts that may arise in interpreting agreements entered into by healthcare providers, professionals, plans, vendors, and service providers. The Service's Rules contain sample arbitration and mediation provisions to use in agreements in case of a dispute. Sample provisions may be found in Appendix II in each Rules of Procedure.
Health Lawyers' ADR Service is the only alternative dispute resolution service that handles health law-related disputes, exclusively, and distinguishes itself by having a diverse list of over 200 dispute resolvers throughout the United States.
________________________________
1If the parties elect to proceed with arbitration (either ad hoc or pursuant to a third party determination that the parties' pre-injury arbitration agreement is valid and enforceable) the parties may mutually submit the Service's Request for a Dispute Resolver List. This mutual Request, by its express terms (see paragraph 13 of the Request List), submits the process to the Service pursuant to its Rules of Procedure and with agreement by the parties that the dispute is subject to resolution under the Rules. Therefore, for purposes of the Service's rule modification, the mutual Request serves as the post-injury agreement in writing to arbitrate the claim.
2If a judge gives a written order that the AHLA ADR Service administer an arbitration under the terms of a pre-injury arbitration agreement, signed by the parties, the AHLA ADR Service interprets the order as a de facto post-injury agreement to arbitrate the claim and thus will administer the matter.