An injury arbitration hearing is governed by the applicable agreement, statute, administering rules, and orders entered in that proceeding. Before arranging witnesses or exhibits, identify which document creates the process, which issues were submitted, who the arbitrator is, and what deadlines or hearing directions currently control. Arbitration should not be described as automatically quicker, private, inexpensive, binding, or appropriate for every injury dispute.

A hearing file should connect every issue to the governing arbitration document, current order, witness, exhibit, objection, delivery record, and unresolved decision.

Build a governing-document index

  • Agreement or clause relied upon, parties covered, claims submitted, requested remedies, amendments, reservations, and objections
  • Notice initiating arbitration, response, arbitrator appointment, disclosures, challenges, administering rules, fee orders, and scheduling orders
  • Hearing date, location or remote platform, time allocation, witness procedure, exhibit format, confidentiality order, recording or transcript direction, and delivery method
  • Open motions, stipulated facts, disputed issues, burdens assigned by the governing law, and matters expressly left outside the arbitration

Use the arbitrator’s orders rather than courtroom assumptions

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-569.15 gives an arbitrator authority over conferences and the admissibility, relevance, materiality, and weight of evidence, while stating that the rules of evidence generally do not apply except as to privilege or immunity. Preserve every procedural direction and do not assume that a courtroom objection, exhibit format, or witness sequence will operate the same way in the arbitration.

Create an issue-to-proof table

  • Issue or requested remedy, source of the governing standard, fact that must be addressed, and any stipulated fact
  • Witness name, first-hand or qualified subject, expected testimony, availability, preparation status, and related exhibit
  • Exhibit number, title, date, author or custodian, source, completeness, authentication path, objection, and admitted or excluded status
  • Contradictory evidence, missing source, assumption, privilege concern, confidentiality limit, and question for the arbitrator

Separate voluntary exchange from compulsory process

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-569.17 addresses arbitrator-issued subpoenas, depositions, discovery, protective orders, and court enforcement. The existence of that authority does not mean every civil-discovery device is available automatically. Record the request, order or subpoena, service, response, objection, production, missing material, protective condition, and any enforcement step for each source.

Prepare witnesses and exhibits without changing the evidence

Preserve original files, native electronic records, metadata, complete medical and billing records, prior statements, photographs, video, and version history. A working copy may be numbered or annotated, but the source copy should remain identifiable. For each witness, keep the subject, source documents, direct knowledge, limits, prior statements, time estimate, remote or in-person needs, and whether a subpoena or other order is involved.

Keep a live hearing log

During the hearing, record the exhibit offered, ruling or stated treatment, limiting direction, witness appearance, testimony segment, objection, proffer, stipulation, order, follow-up item, and person responsible. Reconcile the log with the arbitrator’s later directions instead of relying on memory or an informal exhibit folder.

Calendar the award and any correction request

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-569.19 addresses the award record, notice, and timing. Preserve the award exactly as received, the delivery method, receipt date, parties served, and governing time source. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-569.20 describes specified grounds and deadlines for asking the arbitrator to modify, correct, or clarify an award. A disagreement with the result is not itself a clerical correction request.

The related North Carolina arbitration-agreement guide addresses assent, scope, enforceability, forum, and later court review. Those threshold questions should remain separate from this hearing-record checklist.

Rosensteel Fleishman Car Accident & Injury Lawyers provides information about North Carolina personal-injury matters that may involve arbitration. The actual agreement, orders, record, and individual circumstances control the available process.

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