Originally from Pro-Arbitration Revisited: A Tribute to Professor George Bermann from his Students Over the Years

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Isn’t it time that all arbitral rules applicable to commercial arbitration should provide that parties shall keep the proceedings confidential unless otherwise agreed?  I think the answer is yes, but with the important caveat that the presumption should not apply to consumer or employment disputes, or disputes to which a state or other public entity is a party. This move would, I submit, meet George Bermann’s test for pro-arbitration-ness.  And consideration of the point suggests that Professor Bermann should add a thirteenth question to his dozen ways of gauging the extent to which a policy or practice is “pro-arbitration.”

Many arbitration rules already provide for presumptive confidentiality by parties.  (Virtually all rules require the arbitrators and arbitral institutions to keep the proceedings confidential.)