KITSAP COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
ELECT
n. 1. A person selected to judge a dispute; 2. A person authorized to judge or decide.
Synonym: Judge
An arbitrator acts as an arm of the Superior Court by judicial appointment, empowered with the authority of a trial judge to conduct hearings and charged with the duty to decide the case, not mediate or conciliate.
Serving as a neutral arbitrator is a different role than a lawyer performs as an advocate. A Superior Court arbitrator requires a lawyer to act as the sole juror in finding the facts and as a judge in applying the law and rendering a decision.
Attorneys who offer their services to the Court as arbitrators undertake a great responsibility to the bar, the courts and the public in helping to reduce costs to litigants, attorneys, and taxpayers and to make the resolution of monetary claims in selected cases more efficient.
Arbitration pursuant to RCW 7.06 is mandatory for Superior Court cases in which the claim is for money damages of $50,000 or less. When a case is filed in Superior Court if the value is $50,001 it is decided by a sitting Judge. The facts of the case do not change, the parties do not change, so what is the role of the arbitrator in handling the case, to “act as the judge” under the rules stated in RCW 7.06 and the Mandatory Arbitration Rules.
Serving as a Superior Court Arbitrator gives an attorney valuable experience as the decider of facts and in rendering decisions. Almost every judicial questionnaire asks about arbitration experience, King County Bar Association utilizes the Governor’s Questionnaire asking about arbitration experience, the King County Democrats Judicial Candidate Questionnaire asks about arbitration experience, even the Kitsap Sun asks about arbitrator experience. I am the candidate with almost 20 years experience as a Superior Court Arbitrator.