Arbitration

Since 2002 Penn Payne has served as an arbitrator for all types of employment and commercial cases, including discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims based on race, sex (including pregnancy), age, disability, religion, ethnicity, national origin, and family and medical leave; claims relating to employment agreements; and wage and hour and employee classification claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Penn also arbitrates state law claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, negligent hiring and retention, and civil assault and battery; and claims involving restrictive covenants—covenants not to compete or solicit, trade secrets and confidentiality agreements. Penn has developed subject matter expertise in employment law through her previous 28 years as an active litigator in these areas, as well as in general business and commercial litigation, particularly in the federal courts, representing parties in antitrust, securities, bankruptcy, UCC and contract cases. In her litigation practice she represented both employers and employees, and plaintiffs and defendants. The parties to an arbitration can therefore have confidence in her neutrality and the absence of a built-in bias for one side or the other.

Penn is committed to delivering on the promise that makes arbitration an attractive alternative to litigation—that arbitration is faster, less expensive and less formal than litigation, but does not sacrifice fairness or the opportunity of all parties to be heard. Unlike a judge, she has the time to manage her cases actively and to keep them moving at a steady pace. She encourages the parties to streamline their discovery and to focus on the essentials. She makes herself available to resolve procedural and discovery disputes on short notice, often with only a telephone hearing, so that the parties do not need to file extensive motions (or any formal motions at all) and so that the hearing on the merits is not delayed. She willingly answers questions from lawyers who are not familiar with arbitration procedures.

Penn is a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and a member of the Georgia Arbitrators Forum, the Georgia Academy of Mediators and Arbitrators, and the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. She has been a member of the American Arbitration Association’s panel of employment and commercial arbitrators since 2003 and handles arbitrations through the AAA and other institutional administrators, as well as independently.