Arbitration is the private determination of a dispute by an independent third party. An arbitration hearing may involve the use of an individual arbitrator or a tribunal. A tribunal may consist of any number of arbitrators though some legal systems insist on an odd number for obvious reasons of wishing to avoid a tie. One and three are the most common numbers of arbitrators.

The disputing parties hand over their power to decide the dispute to the arbitrator(s). Arbitration is an alternative to court action (litigation), and generally, just as final and binding (unlike mediation, negotiation and conciliation which are non-binding).

A Discovery Referee (also referred to as a Special Master or Private Judge) is generally appointed by a court, the parties or an arbitrator.

The primary duty of this type of Referee is to make decisions regarding discovery disputes where the meet and confer process has failed and a live dispute remains. Depending on the level of authority instilled in the Referee, Discovery Referees can issue either a binding decision or a report and recommendation to the arbitrator or court who will then make the final decision.