Full bibliography

Unions and employers are no doubt aware that retaining legal cousel necessitates a more expensive and less expeditious grievance arbitration process. However, if a party's prospects for success are enhanced by legal representation, the additional delay and expense may be justified. Does legal representation affect grievance outcomes? Most arbitrators are lawyers. Does an arbitrator's legal training affect the outcome of a grievance? In an effort to answer these questions, all discipline or discharge grievance arbitration awards decided in the Canadian province of Newfoundland during the period 1980-1992 were analyzed. The results suggest that legal representation does not affect grievance outcomes, nor do lawyer-arbitrators decide cases any differently than their lay colleagues.