Originally from World Arbitration And Mediation Review (WAMR)

Preview Page

INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION –
THE FACTS IN NEED OF DATA AND
METRICS – LESS RELIANCE ON
ANECDOTES
William K. Slate II*

I. INTRODUCTION
Few public pronouncements have as powerful an influence as a
promptly published statement or letter which declares succinctly that a
key assertion, or assumption in a news story or editorial was false.
Mark Twain famously penned such a statement in his letter to the New
York Sun saying, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”1

II. ANECDOTES, DATA AND METRICS
A. Anecdotes
How does all of this relate to arbitration and anecdotes2 versus
data3 and metrics?4 The correlation is associated with well-meaning
attempts to address concerns about the arbitral process by reference to
anecdotes, without the critical foundation of supporting data and
metrics. Illustrative thereof are a number of recently published
statements [here repeated without attribution] and which include: “[I]
asked our colleagues about any negative experiences;” or “[O]ne large
company banned international arbitration clauses in its contracts . . . ,