She noted that when those workers who do not belong to the union file a grievance, the union has to represent them, a sometimes expensive process that can involve hiring lawyers to handle arbitrations.
Huyghue began his career as a legal intern for the NFL's Players Association, and was then an attorney with the NFL's Management Council in 1987, handling arbitration hearings.
In the second week of February, it emerged that Wisner's law firm, Patton Boggs, had handled arbitration and litigation on behalf of Mubarak's government, and that Secretary of State Clinton had said as recently as March 2009: "I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family".
Presiding over the case was not a judge but a corporate lawyer, Vasilios J. Kalogredis, who also handled arbitrations.
Such disputes are typically handled through arbitration.
Another one would require some investor lawsuits to be handled by arbitration panels, which are traditionally friendlier to defendants.
The police and firefighters are barred by state law from striking, so their contract disputes will be handled by arbitration.
Mr. Sheen's suit was hamstrung from the start by contractual terms, which dictated that the dispute would be handled by arbitration.
"We wanted to catch a rising wave of business," said Mr. Kehoe, whose firm is also handling the arbitration in the fractious legal feud between the Chevron Corporation and Ecuador.
"If a retired judge issued a significant anti-insurance decision, for example, there is no chance an insurance company would use him again," said Jeffrey Ehrlich, a Claremont attorney who has handled numerous arbitration cases.
