Industry NEWS

Telephone Hearings in New York No-Fault Cases Increase

Telephone participation in hearings of cases in the New York No-Fault auto insurance arbitration program continues to become more popular, according to the American Arbitration Association.

There was telephone participation by at least one of the parties in 17.9 percent of the hearings for which an arbitrator issued an award in April through June 2009, according to the AAA's New York State Insurance Case Management Center, which administers the arbitration of no-fault claims for the New York State Insurance Department. In comparison, there was telephone participation in only 7.4 percent of hearings in the last months of 2005, and telephone participation in 11.5 percent of hearings in April through June 2007.

The AAA allows parties and attorneys to participate in hearings by telephone if the arbitrator agrees that telephone discussions will meet his or her requirements to make a decision in the case. Telephone participation is more convenient for parties, and it is particularly useful for cases in which there are no witnesses and the attorneys make arguments based on documents.

Arbitrators and parties can advise the AAA in advance if they consent to telephonic hearings. Cases in which both parties have agreed to telephonic hearings are scheduled automatically with an arbitrator who has agreed to hold telephonic hearings. Parties reserve the right to request an in-person hearing for cases involving issues that require personal appearances. There are currently 43 arbitrators and 21 parties who have agreed to participate in automatic scheduling of telephone hearings.

In some cases, a party may request to participate by telephone due to unexpected obligations during the course of the day of the hearing. Sometimes, this results in a hearing in which one party is present with the arbitrator and the other party is on the telephone.

The AAA attributes the steady increase in telephone hearings of no-fault cases to the following:

• The use of telephone conferences by arbitrators and parties during the New York City transit strike in December 2005 lent greater acceptance of the telephone as a hearing resource.

• The AAA provided a speakerphone in each arbitrator's hearing room, in conjunction with the installation of computers for Electronic Case Folder (ECF) hearings in 2006. The speakerphone facilitates hearings when the arbitrator and one party are present in the hearing room and the other party is on the telephone.

• The AAA has made available a conference call service provider to facilitate calls with a reserved access number for each arbitrator. This ensures high-quality connection for conference calls.

• Increased experience with telephone hearings by arbitrators and parties. The growing use of online case documents instead of paper documents also encourages parties to try telephone hearings.

Attorneys or parties interested in advance scheduling of telephonic hearings may contact Ben Carpenter, Customer Service Specialist, at 917-438-1660 or carpenterb@adr.org. Any attorney or party who wishes to participate by telephone in a particular scheduled case should contact the AAA case manager team identified in the notice of hearing.