Audit Dispute In the event of a dispute with respect to any audit conducted under Section 6.10.1, Xxxxxxx and Forest shall work in good faith to resolve the disagreement. If the Parties are unable to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of any such dispute within [*] days, the dispute shall be submitted for resolution to a certified public accounting firm jointly selected by each Party’s certified public accountants or to such other Person as the Parties shall mutually agree (the “Accountant”). The decision of the Accountant shall be final and the costs of such arbitration as well as the initial audit shall be borne between the Parties in such manner as the Accountant shall determine. If the Accountant concludes that additional payments were owed, or that excess payments were made during such period, then the Party owing such additional payments shall pay such additional amounts, or the Party that received such excess payments shall reimburse such excess payments, as applicable, in either case, within [*] days after the date on which such decision is made by the Accountant.
Independent Expert The Parties and the other signatories may, upon written agreement, resort to an independent expert in order to obtain a well-grounded opinion that may lead to the settlement of the dispute or controversy. In case such agreement is signed, arbitration may only be filed after issuance of the expert’s opinion.
Arbitration Panel The arbitration panel shall consist of three arbitrators. The arbitrators must be impartial and must be or must have been officers of life insurance and or securities companies other than the parties or their affiliates.
Expert Subject to Clause 16.1, where any matter may be referred to an expert pursuant to Clause 11.2 or is required by this Agreement to be referred to an expert then except as otherwise provided for in this Agreement, the matter must be referred for determination by a person:
(a) who is appointed by the Parties, or in default of such appointment within ten (10) Business Days after either Party giving notice in writing to the other Party requiring the appointment of an expert then that person is to be nominated at either Party’s request by:
(i) if the Parties agree that the Dispute is of a financial nature, the President for the time being of CPA Australia;
(ii) if the Parties agree that the Dispute is of a non-financial nature, the President for the time being of the Engineers Australia – Queensland Division; and
(iii) in any other case, by the President for the time being of the Queensland Law Society Incorporated;
(b) who has appropriate qualifications and practical experience having regard to the nature of the Dispute;
(c) who has no interest or duty which conflicts or may conflict with his function as expert, he being required to fully disclose any such interest or duty by written notice to the Parties before his appointment;
(d) who is not an employee of the End User, any Operator or Aurizon Network or of a Related Body Corporate of any of them;
(e) who shall not be permitted to act until he has given written notice to both Parties that he is willing and able to accept the appointment;
(f) who shall have regard to the provisions of this Agreement and consider all submissions (including oral submissions by either Party provided that such oral submissions are made in the presence of the other Party), supporting documentation, information and data with respect to the matter submitted by the Parties or submitted by the Parties as soon as reasonably practicable at his request and who must provide both Parties with a copy of his determination in the form of a report within a reasonable time after his appointment;
(g) who shall be required to undertake to keep confidential all matters coming to his knowledge by reason of his appointment and performance of his duties;
(h) who shall be deemed to be and shall act as an expert and not an arbitrator and the law relating to arbitration (including, without limitation, the Commercial Arbitration Act 1990 (Qld)) shall not apply to him or his determination or the procedures by which he may reach his determination;
(i) whose decision, in the absence of manifest error, shall be final and binding upon the Parties; and
(j) whose costs (and the costs of any advisers to the expert) shall be borne by the Parties in equal shares with each Party bearing its own costs of participating in the dispute resolution process (unless otherwise agreed by the Parties). Any determination made by an expert must be consistent with the provisions of this Agreement.
Arbitrators (a) Within fifteen days after a valid Arbitration Demand Notice is given, the parties involved in the dispute, controversy or claim referenced therein shall attempt to select a sole arbitrator satisfactory to all such parties.
(b) If such parties are not able jointly to select a sole arbitrator within such fifteen-day period, such parties shall each appoint an arbitrator within thirty days after delivery of the Arbitration Demand Notice. If one party appoints an arbitrator within such time period and the other party or parties fail to appoint an arbitrator within such time period, the arbitrator appointed by the one party shall be the sole arbitrator of the matter.
(c) If a sole arbitrator is not selected pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) above and, instead, two or more arbitrators are selected pursuant to paragraph (b) above, the arbitrators shall, within thirty days after the appointment of the later of them to be appointed, select an additional arbitrator who shall act as the sole arbitrator of the dispute. After selection of such sole arbitrator, the initial arbitrators shall have no further role with respect to the dispute. In the event that the arbitrators so appointed do not, within thirty days after the appointment of the later of them to be appointed, agree on the selection of the sole arbitrator, any party involved in such dispute may apply to the American Arbitration Association to select the sole arbitrator, which selection shall be made by such organization within thirty days after such application. Any arbitrator selected pursuant to this paragraph (c) shall be disinterested with respect to any of the parties and the matter and shall be reasonably competent in the applicable subject matter.
(d) The sole arbitrator selected pursuant to paragraph (a), (b) or (c) above shall set a time for the hearing of the matter which will commence no later than ninety days after the date of appointment of the sole arbitrator pursuant to paragraph (a), (b) or (c) above and which hearing will be no longer than thirty days (unless in the judgment of the arbitrator the matter is unusually complex and sophisticated and thereby requires a longer time, in which event such hearing shall be no longer than ninety days). The final decision of such arbitrator will be rendered in writing to the parties not later than sixty days after the last hearing date, unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing.
(e) The place of any arbitration hereunder will be New York, New York, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
Arbitration Decision The arbitrator’s decision will be final and binding. The arbitrator shall issue a written arbitration decision revealing the essential findings and conclusions upon which the decision and/or award is based. A party’s right to appeal the decision is limited to grounds provided under applicable federal or state law.
Arbitration Appeal A. If an employee grievance is not resolved at Step 2, the aggrieved employee or the PBA may, within fifteen (15) calendar days after receipt of the Step 2 response, submit a request for arbitration to the Labor Relations Office.
B. In non-disciplinary grievances, either the PBA or the Employer may request to take the issue or grievance directly to arbitration by submitting the request for arbitration to the Labor Relations Office.
C. If the parties fail to mutually agree upon an arbitrator within five (5) calendar days after the date of receipt of the arbitration request, a list of seven (7) qualified neutrals shall be requested and paid for by the moving party from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). Within fifteen (15) calendar days after receipt of the list, the parties shall meet and alternately strike names on the list, and the remaining name shall be the arbitrator. A coin shall be tossed to determine who shall strike first. Each party has the right to reject one list. The party rejecting the list shall be responsible for paying for and obtaining the next list and the above described procedures will be followed for selection from the list. If the selected arbitrator is not available for a hearing within ninety (90) days of the date the arbitrator was selected, another list may be requested by the Labor Relations Office, which will pay the fee for that particular list. If the grievant is not represented by the Union, the list of arbitrators shall be requested from the American Arbitration Association with the moving party paying whatever fees may be charged. Once a list has been obtained, the procedures detailed above shall be used for selecting an arbitrator.
D. The hearing on the grievance shall be informal and the rules of evidence shall not apply; however, to assure an orderly hearing, the rules of judicial procedure should be followed as closely as possible.
Mediation In the event of any dispute arising under or in connection with this Agreement, before either party may initiate arbitration pursuant to Section 5.2 below, ICANN and Registry Operator must attempt to resolve the dispute through mediation in accordance with the following terms and conditions:
(a) A party shall submit a dispute to mediation by written notice to the other party. The mediation shall be conducted by a single mediator selected by the parties. If the parties cannot agree on a mediator within fifteen (15) calendar days of delivery of written notice pursuant to this Section 5.1, the parties will promptly select a mutually acceptable mediation provider entity, which entity shall, as soon as practicable following such entity’s selection, designate a mediator, who is a licensed attorney with general knowledge of contract law, has no ongoing business relationship with either party and, to the extent necessary to mediate the particular dispute, general knowledge of the domain name system. Any mediator must confirm in writing that he or she is not, and will not become during the term of the mediation, an employee, partner, executive officer, director, or security holder of ICANN or Registry Operator. If such confirmation is not provided by the appointed mediator, then a replacement mediator shall be appointed pursuant to this Section 5.1(a).
(b) The mediator shall conduct the mediation in accordance with the rules and procedures that he or she determines following consultation with the parties. The parties shall discuss the dispute in good faith and attempt, with the mediator’s assistance, to reach an amicable resolution of the dispute. The mediation shall be treated as a settlement discussion and shall therefore be confidential and may not be used against either party in any later proceeding relating to the dispute, including any arbitration pursuant to Section 5.2. The mediator may not testify for either party in any later proceeding relating to the dispute.
(c) Each party shall bear its own costs in the mediation. The parties shall share equally the fees and expenses of the mediator. Each party shall treat information received from the other party pursuant to the mediation that is appropriately marked as confidential (as required by Section 7.15) as Confidential Information of such other party in accordance with Section 7.15.
(d) If the parties have engaged in good faith participation in the mediation but have not resolved the dispute for any reason, either party or the mediator may terminate the mediation at any time and the dispute can then proceed to arbitration pursuant to Section 5.2 below. If the parties have not resolved the dispute for any reason by the date that is ninety (90) calendar days following the date of the notice delivered pursuant to Section 5.1(a), the mediation shall automatically terminate (unless extended by agreement of the parties) and the dispute can then proceed to arbitration pursuant to Section 5.2 below.
Arbitration Board Where the parties agree to a Board of Arbitration, the party referring the grievance to arbitration shall also provide the name of that party’s nominee to the Board of Arbitration. Within ten (10) days thereafter, the other party shall answer by registered mail, indicating the name and address of its nominee to the Board of Arbitration. The selection of the Chair shall be in accordance with the list of arbitrators above.
Cost of Arbitration The fees for a single Arbitrator or a Chair of a Board of Arbitration shall be shared equally by the parties. Other costs incurred by each party shall be the responsibility of that party.
