The use of experts in arbitration. I. Expert medical evidence: A view from the end of the table

The author opines that, in return-to-work cases, the arbitrator is competent to resolve disputes of medical fact and, if unable to resolve such disputes, can refer them to a third qualified medical expert; that differences in medical opinion are not generally susceptible to resolution by a third expert but may be resolved by the arbitrator’s applying “appropriate standards of equity and fairness”; and that the arbitrator need not defer to the opinion of a medical expert where the subject matter of the opinion is beyond the scope of the expert’s expertise.