Rule 33 - Interrogatories to Parties (A) Availability; procedures for use. Any party, without leave of court, may serve upon any other party up to forty written interrogatories to be answered by the party served.
Where a third party has a direct relationship to the party which is a signatory to the arbitration agreement, a direct commonality of the subject matter and where composite reference of such parties would serve the ends of justice, third parties may be joined to the arbitration.
R. 5 duty to serve all other parties but did not authorize the party to use the facilities of a local court's electronic filing system to perform that duty-even though, under local rules, the court's facilities nevertheless serve by electronic means all parties participating in the electronic filing system.
In arbitration, a neutral third party serves as a judge who is responsible for resolving the dispute. The arbitrator listens as each side argues its case and presents relevant evidence, then renders a binding decision.
Principles of contract law – which vary based on the governing law – can force a non-signatory to participate in arbitration. In addition to these discussed above, assumption and incorporation sometimes are applied. Thus, it is possible to be compelled to arbitrate without having signed an arbitration agreement.
If all parties to an agreement agree explicitly or impliedly to the joining of third parties, there is no legal impediment.
The assertion of the right to arbitrate the dispute is an affirmative defense. It must be stated in the answer. To enforce the right to arbitrate, the party must then file a motion to stay the lawsuit in favor of arbitration. If both parties to the agreement ignore the right to arbitrate, the right is waived.
Some potential consequences may include: Breach of Contract: If arbitration is a contractual requirement and one party refuses to participate, they may be in breach of the contract. The non-complying party may be held liable for damages resulting from the breach.
Arbitration clauses are often enforced ing to contract law principles. However, some jurisdictions hold them unenforceable if there has been any fraud, overreaching, or the absence of mutuality with terms such as “any,” “all,” or “every” (as opposed to “some”) in the arbitration clause.
However, if a plaintiff unwittingly entered into an arbitration agreement due to coercion or deception, or if the terms of the arbitration agreement undermine the plaintiff's ability to vindicate their rights, courts can and sometimes do step in and invalidate the contract.