The Arbitrator Who Looks Perfect

The best résumé does not necessarily make the best arbitrator.

Parties routinely study experience, publications, appointments and reputation. They should.

But the harder question is not whether an arbitrator understands your case.

It is how that arbitrator is likely to think about it.

Does she decide narrowly or broadly? Is he persuaded by commercial logic or doctrinal precision? Does the arbitrator test damages aggressively? Defer to experts? Push toward settlement? Follow the chair?

None of this appears on a CV.

By the time parties discover it, the tribunal has already been constituted.

Selecting an arbitrator is not a credentials exercise. It is a judgment exercise.