Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

The flexibility of arbitration procedures makes it an excellent forum for resolving complex commercial cases. Such cases must be actively managed, however, for these procedures to achieve fair and just results, rendered with less time and expense than court proceedings.

This paper offers practical casemanagement guidelines for handling problems typical of most complex arbitrations. It describes a variety of techniques that can be used to expedite each phase of a case, including preliminary conferences, discovery, evidentiary hearings, and posthearing briefs. The guidelines can be helpful in providing the parties, counsel, and arbitrators with a common set of expectations that can facilitate communication and enable the participants to use arbitration procedures more productively.