Penn Payne serves as an arbitrator in all types of employment and commercial cases, including discrimination, harassment, restrictive covenant, ERISA and contract cases.  She has been a member of the American Arbitration Association’s panel of employment and commercial arbitrators since 2003 and handles arbitrations both through the AAA and independently without an institutional administrator.  In the past five years, she has been appointed as an arbitrator in approximately 30 arbitrations, some of which settled prior to a hearing on the merits or dispositive motion.

Penn has developed subject matter expertise in employment and restrictive covenant law through her 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.  Although her litigation practice most recently consisted primarily of representing employers, over the years she also represented employees.  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.