Many disputants struggle to see why they should go to arbitration, when they hear that it is as slow, as expensive and as uncertain as going to Court. And yet, arbitration has the ability to offer so much more. Appointing the latest retirement from the Bench, returning to the last arbitrator who gave a decision in your client's favour or just surrendering the whole appointments process to an appointing body, while comfortable, does not make the most of what arbitration has to offer.
The benefits of arbitration are well canvassed - party autonomy, confidentiality, efficiency, the ability to set your own procedure and the ability to select your own arbitrator. The last tends to have the most significant impact on all other factors, making it the most important decision the parties can make in arbitration.
And yet, it is something that is not done as well as it might be.
The attached article examines how we might do better.