The expansion in the use of arbitration means that many people, including lawyers, are somehow involved in the process of settling a dispute through arbitration. Persons who establish the procedures governing an arbitration, handle an arbitration, or teach a course about it often have questions about what the best practices for an arbitration hearing are. This article suggests that one important source of best practices for arbitration, which the literature too often ignores, is litigation and trial lawyering skills principles and methods (litigation principles).

In Section I, this article will discuss the subject of litigation principles and illustrate how specific principles and methods foster the values of problem-solving, aiding the decision-maker, and presenting an organized and persuasive case. Section II will provide general background on what arbitration is. Section III, will focus on describing how a prototypical arbitration process might look. In Section IV, the article will raise procedural, and related, issues upon which either rule-makers or advocates likely seek guidance. The section discusses specific litigation principles and applies them to recommend best practices as to these arbitration issues. Finally, in Section V, the article will conclude by discussing the utility of this approach to developing best practices for scholars, teachers, and practitioners.