In a major international commercial arbitration, there are specific steps in the dispute-resolving process that are reasonably well defined. First, the claimant must submit a notice of arbitration, to which the respondent answers. Depending upon the relevant rules, the notice and response may include detailed pleadings. Other times the notice may be quite succinct, and...Read More

Parties generally expect an arbitration to result in an award that will be final and binding. The widely accepted meaning of “award” is that it is the final decision by the arbitrators, dispositive of the issues in the case. Tribunals may, however, issue “partial awards” or “interim awards,” which also may be final and binding...Read More

The benefits of international commercial arbitration are substantial. An empirical study of why parties choose international arbitration to resolve disputes found that the two most significant reasons were (1) the neutrality of the forum (that is, being able to stay out of the other party’s court) and (2) the likelihood of obtaining enforcement, by virtue...Read More

To an extent, some of the disadvantages of arbitration are the same as the advantages, just viewed from a different perspective. For example, less discovery may be generally viewed as an advantage. Nonetheless, certain kinds of disputes, which typically involve extensive discovery, such as antitrust disputes, are increasingly arbitrated. These kinds of disputes often require...Read More