Inside Out: A User's Perspective on Challenges in International Arbitration

International arbitration is a preferred form of commercial dispute resolution, but despite its popularity, critics argue that arbitration has evolved into a process as costly and as time-consuming as traditional litigation. Indeed, arbitration’s foundation of efficiency has begun to dissolve. As arbitration spreads to new regions, it becomes even more important to address emerging weaknesses. The author suggests that a concerted effort to improve arbitration from arbitrators, arbitral institutions, private practitioners and in-house counsel would restore arbitration’s strengths of cost efficiency, speed and user-friendliness. This ‘inside out’ approach will not only fix the broken parts of arbitration, but it will enable the arbitral system to succeed in accommodating future growth.