Benjamin A. Kerner

I have been trained and exercise my training in the field of labor arbitration, fact finding and employment arbitration. I know how to guide a case from the initial appointment through a fair hearing to a firm, definite, problem-solving conclusion.

There are two keys to my practice. One is the inherent reliance on party representatives to provide relevant evidence. One must also have the courage, of course, to rule out irrelevant evidence at the hearing. All this within the rubric attributed to Harry Platt, The greater danger is that the arbitrator will not hear enough of the relevant, not that he will hear too much of the irrelevant.

If the duly admitted evidence does not persuade me by a preponderance of all the evidence to the position of the party that has the burden of proof, then it fails to persuade, and the case must be decided accordingly.

Two, I am not swayed by anything except the admitted evidence. The arbitrator must rely strictly on what has been made a matter of record at the hearing both in considering the case and in writing his opinion and award.

Regarding experience, I pride myself on having litigation experience in the broader labor area, including litigation experience under the statutes listed on the last page of this Website. Inevitably, statutory law enters into labor arbitration, if only because the parties bargain against a backdrop of known, proven and tried statutory concepts. I depend upon the advocates to bring forth these precedents.

My main experience over the last 30 years has been listening to and guiding arbitration cases to a conclusion that is fair, contractually based (statute based in the case of employment arbitration), and legally sufficient. I have the habits of a neutral, including skepticism of every claim and every defense; willingness to be persuaded by the evidence to either position in a case; ability to make a full and effective remedy if a contractual violation is found. I can commend to you my services in a case where you depend on these traditional virtues.