A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed: Increasing Efficiency in Complex Arbitrations Using Third-Party Notices

This article discusses the German procedural law concept of third-party notices (‘Streitverkündung’), which aim to make subsequent recourse proceedings more efficient or even redundant. To showcase the viability of transplanting this mechanism to arbitration, this article first examines similar mechanisms in different (common law) jurisdictions. It then highlights the benefits international arbitration stands to gain from implementing such third-party notices in addition to instruments like joinder and consolidation. Besides discussing also existing new supplementary rules on third-party notices by the German Arbitration Institute (DIS), it presents a stand-alone approach, which is suitable for larger and more complex construction projects or corporate transactions: drafting bespoke arbitration and intervention agreements.