Ten Fail-Safe Ways to Irritate, Alienate and Antagonize Your Arbitral Tribunal

There is no shortage of books about the art of advocacy in international arbitration. Pick any one from the library shelf, and you are likely to learn a great deal about good advocacy. In real life, however, it is bad advocacy that often rules the day. Time and again, tribunals encounter the infamous “Bad Advocate,” a master at flouting all the best practices of the trade.This article examines how the Bad Advocate manages to ruin a perfectly good case through missteps and blunders at every stage of the arbitral proceedings. Covering ten broad topics – from tribunal constitution to closing arguments – it exposes common advocacy pitfalls that leave arbitrators exasperated and all but ensure inevitable defeat. Warning: The following content may disturb some practitioners. Reader discretion is advised.