Arbitrator Intelligence launches questionnaire, signs agreement in Singapore

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Arbitrator Intelligence (AI), founded by Penn State Law professor Catherine Rogers, officially launched its Arbitrator Intelligence Questionnaire (AIQ) in Singapore on June 1 by signing an agreement with the Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC) at Drew & Napier headquarters in Singapore. The launch event was hosted by Drew & Napier CEO Davinder Singh and officiated by AI Advisory Board Member Gary Born. AI Advisor Sundaresh Menon, chief justice of Singapore, also graciously supported the event.

The AIQ is available on the Arbitrator Intelligence website.

With the assistance of arbitral institutions like SIAC, Arbitrator Intelligence will invite parties and counsel at the conclusion of arbitration cases to complete the AIQ to solicit feedback on how the arbitrators managed and decided the cases. The questionnaire is designed to replicate, through this feedback data, the kinds of information about arbitrators’ case management and decisional history that is currently gathered through ad hoc person-to-person phone calls. When sufficient information is collected, AI will make it available to the international arbitration community through “AI Reports.”

“AI Reports will provide information about everything from arbitrator rulings on document production, to arbitrator questions during hearings, to their reasoning in arbitral awards, to their calculation of interest rates,” said Rogers. “Our ultimate goal is to provide more information—and more accurate information—that will empower parties, counsel, institutions, and even arbitrators to make better-informed choices in selecting arbitrators and constituting tribunals.”

The AIQ grows out of Rogers’ scholarship, including chapters in her recent book Ethics in International Arbitration. Rogers formally founded Arbitrator Intelligence in 2014 with the goal of promoting fairness, transparency, and accountability in the arbitrator selection process, and facilitating increased diversity in arbitrator appointments. These objectives are particularly important in a regime in which the very existence of arbitration cases is treated as secret, and details of case resolutions are also confidential.

As the same event AI launched the AIQ, AI also entered into a Cooperation Agreement with SIAC, pursuant to which SIAC will assist AI in administering the AIQ in exchange for AI waiving its fees on the AI Reports for SIAC.  

In addition to Singapore, the AIQ was presented at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) on Friday, June 2, and at the Kuala Lumpur Regional Arbitration Centre (KLRCA) on Tuesday, June 6. Later this summer, Rogers will head to Lima, Peru, for a launch event at Bullard Falla Ezcurra, hosted by Partner Huascar Ezcurra, before heading to Mexico City for additional events with Mexican arbitration specialists.

For more information on Arbitrator Intelligence and the AIQ, visit arbitratorintelligence.org.