Escalating costs, protracted processes and lack of a clear appellate mechanism are routinely reported as cause for party complaints about commercial arbitration. Meanwhile, one of arbitration’s greatest benefits is parties’ ability to consider who will serve as the decision maker for their dispute. The latter benefit – selecting the right arbitrator – can be utilised to address the former disadvantages.

But the process for vetting and selecting arbitrators is often opaque. Arbitrators may be chosen by parties to serve based on word-of-mouth reputation, expertise advertised in their CV, or other factors. However, there are more reliable and unbiased ways to obtain this information. Careful vetting of arbitrators, with an eye toward avoiding poorly written awards and runaway processes, is possible. This article provides a brief overview of party considerations for selecting arbitrators with fairness, efficiency and neutrality in mind.