At the Bar - Lloyd Nelson enjoys an iced tea with Chris Hewer

"THANK you Mr Hewer", says the winsome waitress as she takes my order in the Marriott's Desert Springs Resort and Spa in Palm Desert. It is true I was here earlier in the week, but I have obviously underestimated the extent of my charisma. Then I remember. I am wearing a name tag on my shirt, in common with most other delegates to the US Maritime Law Association fall meeting, which is being held in this luscious hotel in an incongruously verdant bowl in the middle of the arid and yellow California desert.

Lloyd Nelson doesn't wear a name tag. He knows who he is. So does everybody else here, for that matter. Lloyd is the longest-serving and arguably best-known maritime arbitrator in the US. And what a name for a maritime arbitrator. Lloyd Nelson. I have visions of connections with the old coffee house in London, and the great English admiral. "I was born and raised in South Dakota," says Lloyd in his dry, laconic way. "Ninety per cent of the phonebook in my town was made up of Nelsons and Neilsens and Olsons. It was Scandinavian country". That settles that, then, but I can't be the only one to be fooled by the name. Lloyd tells me an English barrister once referred to him as ÔMy Lord'.

The ethos of this column is that we should be at the bar, enjoying a glass of fine wine. But Lloyd has opted for iced tea, and I am not going to argue with him. So it's orange juice for me, no cherry. Better to keep a clear head, I suppose, so that we get the historical facts right.

Lloyd was told that he was the first person ever from South Dakota to apply to go to the United States Merchant Marine Academy at King's Point. He went to sea for a year as a cadet, and then served as a deck officer for about two years. Thereafter, he took a job in the steamship business in New York. He didn't much care for that, until he joined and quickly established himself at Orion & Global, where he has been president since 1975.

In the mid-50s, Lloyd was involved in his first arbitration, a charter party cancellation dispute on the Ocean Rose. At more than a million dollars, it was at that time the largest award ever issued in New York. "I never particularly asked to be an arbitrator," explains Lloyd. "But one of the leading arbitrators in New York had a heart attack, and I was asked if I would serve as a replacement for several cases". He has been consistently appointed since that day.

Lloyd is not a man for promenading. In fact he refused to join the SMA when it was founded in 1963. "I saw the SMA as an organisation that was going to try to tell people how to think," he says. "That wasn't for me. And I was probably doing more work than the whole of the SMA put together at that time." He isn't boasting, just telling it how it was.

Gentle pressures were eventually brought to bear, however, and Lloyd did join the SMA, in 1965. He turned down the SMA presidency, though, because, he says, "I have a full-time job. And I do have a full-time job".

"I don't mind lawyers being involved in arbitration."

Lloyd feels that maritime arbitration in many cases has become too complicated and too costly. He is also concerned at what he sees as the unhealthy trend towards professional arbitrators. "There are not enough practical shipping people involved in arbitration," says Lloyd. "This didn't used to be the case. In the 50s and 60s, for example, there were plenty of arbitrators, but very few got appointed. Those that did tended to be practical shipping people. Today, there is still no shortage of arbitrators. There are plenty of people willing to accept appointments. But their capability to handle cases is not known, and not enough of them have the practical experience you need to arbitrate effectively."

Lloyd is not only about criticisms, however. He thinks the product today is better overall than it was, and that publication of awards has added responsibility to the arbitrator's art.

Maritime arbitrations involving Lloyd are still invariably held at lunchtimes and in the evenings. "Everybody knows when I'm available," says Lloyd. "If it's inconvenient, I just offer to get off."

Lloyd is pensive when asked about the qualities he thinks you need to be a good maritime arbitrator. "You certainly need to be willing to speak your mind, irrespective of how it might affect your future relationship with other arbitrators and attorneys," he says. "The greatest compliment you can get is to be appointed as an arbitrator a second time.

"Shipping is not more litigious than it used to be. The market dictates the amount of arbitration that will take place. It's still a charterer's market. The best arbitrators know the industry, know how it works, and are up-to-date with what is happening."

I ask Lloyd if he thinks there are too many lawyers involved in arbitration. "The chairman of the arbitration panel should be an admiralty lawyer," he responds, finishing up the last of his iced tea. "The perfect mix would be two lay people and an admiralty lawyer. I don't mind lawyers being involved in arbitration. And it is critical to appoint a third man who understands the issues and who furthermore can't afford to embarrass himself."

Speaking as a user of the system, Lloyd concludes, "There's never a case you can't lose. And I don't want to be involved in a case I can't win."

Earlier in the week, Lloyd was part of the US golf team which beat the rest of the world lawyers to win a mini Ryder Cup played at PGA West. "It was a great match," says Lloyd, who indulges in a rare chuckle that begins at his eyebrows and spreads to his feet. "We beat the pants off them. It came down to the last foursome, on the last green and the last hole and the last putt, when the US team finally won. It sure made up for losing the real thing."

Lloyd lost his own game, but he is no mean golfer. He plays most weekends, and any other chance he gets in his busy life. In fact, he won the first ever MLA golf tournament. He tells me he suffered in the Ryder Cup this week because the players weren't allowed to use the motorised carts on the fairways, and Lloyd's knees aren't what they used to be.

At last we have it. Nelson has a weakness. Future opponents at arbitration may like to play on his dodgy knees. It's worth a try.