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Colloquium: Courts & Judicial Process

Room 113
Monday, April 8
10:00 a.m. (PT)

Diversity and Arbitration

Author: Andrea Cann Chaondrasekher (UC Davis)
Commentator: Judge Jeremy Fogel (BJI, UC Berkeley)

Abstract
“An Empirical Investigation of Arbitrator Race and Gender in the U.S. Arbitration” by Prof. Andrea Cann Chandrasekher

Scholars in the field have argued back and forth about the root of the diversity problem. Is it a labor supply problem? In other words, are parties to arbitration open to hiring marginalized arbitrators but there are just not enough to choose from? Or is it a labor demand problem? In other words, when women and arbitrators of color are available, are they chosen at rates consistent with their white male counterparts? Or, are both supply and demand problems at work? Because much of the scholarly diversity conversation has been based on anecdotal information and survey data which don’t cover the full population of U.S. arbitrators, these basic questions are still unanswered.

This paper contributes to the literature by using an originally-collected data set of arbitrator race, ethnicity and gender from the two largest arbitration firms in the U.S., Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (“JAMS”) and the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). The data were collected using public data sources and cutting-edge machine learning techniques. This is the first-ever scholarly effort to empirically estimate the race and ethnicity of arbitrators for both the JAMS and AAA populations. The analysis presents estimates of the demographic profile of the supply of U.S. arbitrators and the demographic profile of the subset of arbitrators that are actually selected to arbitrate—with a special focus on the extent to which under-selection is happening.

BJI News

“Skeptical Bench”

January 9, 2024

BJI Executive Director Judge Jeremy Fogel (ret) spoke to CBC about some of the legal and political implications of the immunity arguments under consideration in former President Trump’s appellate case.

Watch now — “Skeptical Bench”