Issues Associated With Selecting Arbitrators: Appointments and Challenges

I. The Marketplace for International Arbitrator Services

Arbitrators are selected and appointed in a market for international arbitration services. As international arbitration has become a high-stakes and a highly competitive marketplace, arbitrator selection is being understood as part of that market and the processes for selecting and appointing arbitrators is under increasing scrutiny. This Part describes who constitutes the pool of international arbitrators in that marketplace, and how arbitrators are selected and appointed in individual cases. Finally, it evaluates how the market for arbitrator services operates.

A. The Field of International Arbitrators

International arbitrators are exceptionally talented individuals. Most speak multiple languages.1 They boast rich and multi-national educations from the world's most prestigious universities,2 and often have experience in the highest echelons of diverse legal systems. Their multi-faceted, multi-cultural legal experience is often supplemented by technical or industry- [15-2] specific expertise. These cumulative credentials are often leveraged in scholarly research3 and enhanced by university professorships. The most experienced of these arbitrators are appointed and re-appointed to the most important international disputes.4 Leading arbitrators are called on to resolve everything from delicate m