As alternative dispute resolution seems to take an ever-widening bite out of the cases routed through the federal courts, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Pasadena on Monday questioned how much information is enough for parties to decide the appearance of impartiality of arbitrators during arguments in Monster Energy vs. City Beverages.

Energy drink company Monster Energy Co. is asking the court to confirm its arbitration award against distributor City Beverages LLC, which does business as Olympic Eagle Distributing. However, Olympic argues that it did not get a fair resolution in the case terminating its contract with Monster because of the energy drink company’s connection with arbitration services provider JAMS.