"Ethics for Lawyers as Party Arbitrators" by Daniel E. Tranen

[Editor's note: Daniel Tranen is a partner in the Boston office of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. He is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts, Illinois, Georgia and Missouri. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the University of Illinois College of Law. Copyright 2011, Daniel E. Tranen.]

The Federal Arbitration Act states that a court may vacate an arbitration award under circumstances in which "there is evident partiality or corruption in the arbitrators or either of them." While partiality and corruption reflect the baseline for unethical behavior by any arbitrator, lawyers who serve as arbitrators have …