Originally from Take the Witness: Cross Examination In International Arbitration

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There are, obviously, a great many facets to the art of cross-examination, both of fact and expert witnesses.   This essay, however, addresses only a few of them:  the tone, words and style of common law advocates in international arbitrations, the growing uniformity of practice in this area, and the significance of that growing uniformity for the future of international arbitration. One of the well-known difficulties and questions confronted by many common-law advocates in cross-examining witnesses in international arbitrations in a civil law setting, with witnesses or arbitrators or both from civil law jurisdictions, is how aggressive and confrontational a tone and words they should use. Many such advocates are accustomed to the approach so often seen in American judicial settings, with lawyers trying their best to destroy the credibility of witnesses, and using harsh words and tones to accomplish that goal.