Not so long ago, as a lawyer you started your career at the same firm from which you would later retire. Today, the opposite is true. Ambitious young lawyers and sometimes even entire practice groups move to new firms. Counsel switch between in-house and law firm positions, between public and private employers, and occasionally between…

In the absence of concrete publicly available information about arbitrators, arbitration practitioners often resort to cognitive shortcuts and just plain guesswork in the arbitrator selection process. As explored in a previous post, parties and counsel frequently rely on arbitrators’ common-law or civil-law education and practice as indicators for how they might approach key case management…

Arbitrators make many decisions that affect the outcome of a case. The most obvious decisions are, of course, their decisions on the merits. But arbitrators also make a host of other procedural and case management decisions that can affect the outcome of a case. Procedural and case management decisions may include rulings on briefing and…

In most cases, arbitrator selection follows a basic 3-step process: (1) Start with a Long List of Potential Arbitrators; (2) Pare it down to a Short List of Suitable Arbitrators; and then (3) Pick The Arbitrator to appoint. At first, research is very broad. Parties focus on fundamental elements of the case, such as applicable…

In recent years, a range of organizations have sprung up to challenge the existing hegemony in arbitrator appointments. As an opening gambit, ArbitralWomen pushed to have arbitral institutions publish statistics regarding the gender of arbitrators sitting in their cases. Then, with clearer understanding of gender deficits, ArbitralWomen together with the ERA Pledge urged parties and…

What is perhaps the greatest source of praise for an arbitrator? A party or lawyer who believes that they lost the case, but has positive things to say about that arbitrator. That is the criteria Arbitrator Intelligence started with to select its Arbitrators of the Year for 2020 and other Distinguished Arbitrators. Intensive debate exists…

In Disney’s Fantasia, the third segment—called The Sorcerer’s Apprentice—is based on the poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It features the charming but somewhat lazy Mickey, who is tired of his chores. To get some help, he borrows Sorcerer Yen Sid’s hat, and uses it to magically animate a broom with what today we might…

Legend has it that in 1752, Benjamin Franklin flew a kite in a thunderstorm, with a house key dangling from the string, to attract lightning and store it in a Leyden jar. Similarly, academics, policymakers, lawyers, and parties have for years sought to capture the answers to transcendent questions about investment arbitration. Which variants justifiably…

The Summer 2020 Kluwer Arbitration Quiz was met with a very enthusiastic response: 271 submissions from around the world! The quiz focused on how the conduct of arbitrations may differ, depending on industries and regions, as revealed by data collected to date by Arbitrator Intelligence. That data is collected through responses submitted by parties and…

As the global pandemic has constrained in-person gatherings, many arbitration practitioners will have foregone most of their summer travel. Fortunately, for this summer’s holiday (quiz), we can all take a trip together to Transparency Land, where all arbitrators and institutions are above average, but may not all be equal in how they manage proceedings. With…

Long before the now-popular phrase “pale, male, and stale,” leading arbitrators were instead often referred to as a “club,” a “cartel,” or even a “monopoly.” Those references were meant metaphorically, even jokingly. The irony is that they turn out to hold important truths that are promiscuously intertwined with the pale-male-stale moniker. To understand both, we…

After years of research, development, data collection, analysis, and refinement, Arbitrator Intelligence (AI) is unveiling a Prototype of its forthcoming Arbitrator Intelligence Reports, or AI Reports. The formal launch of the Prototype is scheduled March 1 at Vienna Arbitration Days, with a special London Launch of the Prototype on March 4 at 6:00pm at WilmerHale….

This year ArbitralWomen (AW) celebrates its 25th Anniversary. Founded in 1993, AW is a network of women from diverse backgrounds and legal cultures active in international dispute resolution in any role, including, arbitrator, mediator, expert, adjudicator, surveyor, facilitator, lawyer, neutral, ombudswoman or forensic consultant. With close to a thousand members from over 40 countries, AW has…

One of the most critical moments in any international arbitration is the appointment of arbitrators. As Rusty Park has explained, “just as ‘location, location, location’ comprise the three key elements in sustainable real estate value, so it has been observed that ‘arbitrator, arbitrator, arbitrator’ endure as the most critical factor in the integrity of any…

You might be forgiven if you thought “moneyball” was the name of a new lottery game. It’s an easy mistake if you have not read Moneyball, Michael Lewis’ critically acclaimed book or seen the 6-time Academy-Award-nominated film starring Brad Pitt.1)The analogy for this post is adapted from Professor Chris Zorn, my Penn State colleague, Member…

In virtually every sector of modern business, data is enhancing if not replacing intuition as the basis for making decisions. This trend holds even for assessments as seemingly subjective and rarified as predicting the quality—and hence price—of an exquisite French Bordeaux. In selecting international arbitrators, however, intuition still predominates. For example, a recent industry survey…

As the three co-chairs of the ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force on Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration, we are pleased to announce that the final Report will be launched at the ICCA Congress in Sydney with an extraordinary group of experts, including Donald Donovan, Ania Farren, Jean-Christophe Honlet, Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, Julian Lew, Audley Sheppard, and Lawrence…

Before answering the titular question, let’s start with the more basic question: What is a race to the top? The phrase seems self-explanatory. It is a compelling and vivid metaphor that has by now entered to the public lexicon. But the phrase “race to the top” originated as a counterpart to the more ominous phrase:…

Today, most arbitration practitioners have heard about Arbitrator Intelligence. They have seen it referenced in this blog space, heard it mentioned at a conference, or noticed that it has been identified as an important new innovation. But as often as people say they have heard of Arbitrator Intelligence, they also still have basic questions about…

Duties will include: generating, editing and publishing content, and designing a social media strategy to coordinate communication and outreach. This position requires effectiveness in writing/editing, and a combination of practical skills, legal training, and knowledge of the international arbitration field globally. Candidates should ideally have proficiency in search engine optimization (SEO), Google analytics, and social…

A strange paradox marks the debate about international arbitrator diversity. Public consensus increasingly reflects a pervasive concern about the lack of diversity among international arbitrators. ArbitralWomen can claim much credit for focusing attention on the lack of gender diversity, as evidenced by now more than 2500 signatures on The Pledge. Meanwhile, many corporate users now…

As the Co-Chairs of the ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force on Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration (Task Force), we are pleased to announce that the draft report of the ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force on Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration is now available for public comment until 31 October 2017. The draft report is available here. Overview…

After several years in the planning, one year in the making, and many months in the testing, Arbitrator Intelligence (AI) will on 1 June 2017 launch its AI Questionnaire or “AIQ.” The formal unveiling will occur in Singapore at an event hosted by the Drew & Napier law firm, supported by the Singapore International Arbitration…

Last week GAR released the shortlist for its 2017 award for “best innovation by an individual or organization”. What is notable about this year’s shortlist is that of the ten innovations on the list, six directly address transparency and/or diversity in international arbitration. From an online directory of African arbitration practitioners, to the launch of “Dispute…