Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

Unlike lawyers or academics, whose routes ol' entry into their professions are carefully circumscribed, arbitrators join their field in diverse ways, often having developed their skills as ancillary to their "main" vocation. To a significant degree, other professionals have established their credentials at the time of entry; this is not the case with arbitrators.

Having once decided that arbitration looks appealing, neophyte arbitrators must prove themselves by establishing their acceptability. Designating oneself an arbitrator is easy enough, compared to the difficult task of actually receiving cases, since case assignments represent the true validation of one's status as an arbitrator.

Conventional wisdom holds that acceptability is the bellweather of arbitrator success. This view assumes that active arbitrators, those whoso calendars appear to be blanked out for months, are the "better" arbitrators. Less-active arbitrators, or arbitrator aspirants, wonder how they too can achieve this level of acceptability.