Arbitrators Job Description, Duties & Salary

Experience, Skills, and Personality Traits

Arbitrators are typically attorneys, business executives, and retired judges with expertise in a particular field—such as finance, construction, shipping, or insurance. A minimum of three years of experience in one’s chosen field is needed to enter this career, but many employers and arbitration organizations (such as the American Arbitration Association) require applicants for arbitrator positions or rosters to have at least 10 years of experience.

Arbitrators need a variety of traits to be successful. For example, they must be excellent listeners in order to gather the pertinent information that they need to make a decision. They also need to be able to effectively question the parties involved in the dispute in order to obtain key information, and they need excellent writing ability in order to craft a decision that is concise and easy to understand by all parties. During arbitration hearings, arbitrators need to project authority and gravitas and establish—and enforce—ground rules for appropriate behavior. Hearings can become contentious, and the arbitrator must maintain order and decorum and have strong dispute management skills so that the process does not get out of control.

Arbitrators must have strong ethics and remain neutral during hearings. They cannot let their own biases or beliefs influence their judgment of the facts of a case. Other important traits include top-notch critical-thinking skills and analytical ability, decisiveness, strong time-management and organizational skills, and patience.

Related Professions

Featured Companies