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The SMA Board of Governors has approved changes

The SMA Board of Governors has approved changes to the text of Sections 2 and 10 and to Appendix B of the SMA Rules, effective October 1, 2024. 

Amended Section 2, entitled Consolidation, makes clear that the person selected to serve by the intermediate or “pass along” party or parties shall serve as Chair of the Panel.

Amended Section 10 makes clear that when parties select SMA Rules in the arbitration clause but do not specify a method of selecting a panel, the panel will be the usual three-person panel, with two arbitrators appointed by each party and the third selected by the two so chosen.

Appendix B is a recommended form of subpoena.  We have added a link to a recently updated report by the International Commercial Disputes Committee and the Arbitration Committee of the New York City Bar entitled “A Model Federal Arbitration Summons to Testify and Present Documentary Evidence at an Arbitration Hearing” (March 2024) (the “Report”),  https://www.nycbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/20221270_ModelFederalArbitrationSummons.pdf

Among other things, it deals with the requirements for subpoenas to witnesses located outside the judicial district of the seat of the arbitration.

The revised Rules as of October 1, 2024, can be found here.