Attorneys Kelly Waters and Jill Mucerino of WSHB's New Jersey office recently secured several appellate rulings enforcing arbitration clauses in favor of WSHB's clients. In one case the New Jersey Appellate Division reversed the Trial Court's denial of our motion to compel arbitration. In two separate matters that were consolidated on appeal, a different panel of the Appellate Division affirmed the Trial Court's grants of our motions to compel arbitration.
The Appellate Division's rulings are important because they bring New Jersey law in line with the Federal Law which allows by statute that if the arbitrator is unavailable and the parties cannot agree, the Court, on petition by a party, can appoint an arbitrator. While New Jersey law is clear on this, lower courts have applied the New Jersey statute inconsistently. By holding that the Court can appoint a substitute arbitrator if the chosen forum is unavailable, these decisions provide precedent and guidance to the lower courts.