One might consider whether the time has come for parties to incorporate more particularized rules about independence directly into their arbitration agreements.
This will permit the parties to set their common expectations and will put potential arbitrators on notice as to the manner in which the parties expect the arbitration process to be managed. This is precisely why the AAA and the Milan Chamber of Commerce have articulated ethical standards, which are incorporated in the arbitrator’s mandate.
By clarifying an arbitrator’s role in this fashion, institutions decrease the need for arbitrators to negotiate their professional obligations directly with the parties, which might
otherwise create an adversarial relationship with the potential to: (1) set up a basis for challenging the arbitrator or (2) eradicate the parties’ trust in the arbitrator(s).