Raymond G. Bender

Parties and counsel may realize tangible benefits through arbitration, including the following advantages:

• Permits appointment of arbitrators with legal, commercial or industry expertise best suited to resolving a dispute
• Permits appointment  in high-tech cases of arbitrators with requisite skills and understanding of applicable technology
• Permits appointment of arbitrators with adequate time to devote to complex legal or factual issues (compared to trial judges with busy dockets)
• Permits appointment in complex cases of panel of three arbitrators with complementary skills to hear and resolve a complex dispute
• Affords neutral forum for resolving international disputes between parties from different countries
• Avoids unsophisticated jury determinations in cases involving complex factual disputes (e.g., high-tech cases)
• Affords confidential process that can protect business reputations, even to the extent of protecting disclosure of the dispute itself
• Affords confidential process that can protect trade secrets and other proprietary or commercially-sensitive business information from public disclosure
• Provides potential for substantial cost savings
• Provides potential for substantial time savings, often critical in fast-paced technology contexts where lengthy and costly litigation cannot be tolerated
• Affords flexible process permitting parties to craft discovery and other procedures attuned to the demands of the particular dispute
• Permits relaxed rules of evidence
• Permits selection of ad hoc arbitration or case administration by domestic or international arbitral institutions best suited to the nature of the dispute
• Affords relatively amicable process that can preserve ongoing business relationships and avoid business disruption
• Affords a dispute resolution process that is binding and final--arbitral awards are not reviewable except in very limited circumstances or, if the parties agree, pursuant to an appeal within arbitration
• Affords broad recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards under the New York Convention