The first conference in an arbitration tells you a lot about how the case is going to go. When the arbitrator comes in with nothing more than a scheduling template and the parties have their eyes on getting off the call, everyone learns something: nobody is going to be steering this case. As a result, it is likely to drift rudderless, take longer than it could, and cost more than it should.

The far better approach is for everyone to arrive at that first conference having thought about the substance of the matter: not just the procedure, but the whole dispute. What are the parties actually fighting about, where is the real disagreement, and where do they risk incurring fees arguing about things that will never influence the outcome?

Experienced counsel often know the answers, but they may not have had a forum to state them plainly. When a neutral creates that opportunity early, useful things happen. The scope of what follows gets right sized to the real case, rather than the pleaded one. Resources go where they belong. The proceeding has a shape.

Occasionally something more significant surfaces: a single issue on which the rest of the dispute genuinely depends. A threshold question that, if resolved early, changes the calculus for everyone. A focused interim ruling on such an issue, entered before the case fully mobilizes, almost always shifts the trajectory. It happens, not because anyone pushed for a result, but because clarity has a way of doing that on its own.

If you have a dispute that needs an arbitrator who treats the first conference as the beginning of the case, not just the opening of the calendar, I welcome the opportunity to work with you. You can reach me at dreif@reifadr.com or visit Reifadr.com.

David Reif, FCIArb

Reif ADR

203-641-0991