Consolidation of separate arbitration proceedings.
1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, upon motion of a party to an agreement to arbitrate or to an arbitral proceeding, the court may order consolidation of separate arbitral proceedings as to all or some of the claims if:
(a) There are separate agreements to arbitrate or separate arbitral proceedings between the same persons or one of them is a party to a separate agreement to arbitrate or a separate arbitral proceeding with a third person;
(b) The claims subject to the agreements to arbitrate arise in substantial part from the same transaction or series of related transactions;
(c) The existence of a common issue of law or fact creates the possibility of conflicting decisions in the separate arbitral proceedings; and
(d) Prejudice resulting from a failure to consolidate is not outweighed by the risk of undue delay or prejudice to the rights of or hardship to parties opposing consolidation.
2. The court may order consolidation of separate arbitral proceedings as to some claims and allow other claims to be resolved in separate arbitral proceedings.
3. The court may not order consolidation of the claims of a party to an agreement to arbitrate if the agreement prohibits consolidation.
Last modified: February 27, 2006