So what’s the answer for the “small” ones? How many arbitrators do you need to hear and decide a business-to-business cross-border dispute (moderate value and difficulty)? Assume it will be heard in Western Europe or the U.S.
One arbitrator or three?
What do most parties generally prefer? Why do they lean that way? And, even while litigants widely believe that one arbitrator can both cut costs and increase speed, what is the best “default” practice in the abstract?
Should “size”–the overall monetary value of the dispute–always drive the parties’ decision of the number of arbitrators used?
Two months ago GE’s Mike McIlwrath interviewed Jennifer Kirby, now with Herbert Smith LLP – Paris