Presenting Your Case

• Author: David A. Allgeyer
• Pages: 77-82

77

CHAPTER 12

Presenting Your Case

We have now arrived at the beginning of evidence. How should

you begin?

EFFICIENT PRESENTATION

There is no one way to start. But the standard for admissibility

for evidence in arbitration presents some possibilities for eff‌i-

ciently presenting each party’s case that are worth exploring.

Let me give you a couple of examples that I have seen work well.

A f‌irst, common approach uses the most involved or respon-

sible representative of a party to narrate most of the facts

involved, often in chronological order.1 This is more likely to

work in arbitration than in court because of the standard for

admissibility. The standard in the AAA Commercial rule is, for

example,

The parties may offer such evidence as is relevant and

material to the dispute and shall produce such evidence

1 Some trial practice experts would suggest chronology is an ineffective

way to proceed, and you should introduce evidence by topic. I’ll leave it to

you to f‌igure out what f‌its your case best. One of the benef‌its of arbitra-

tion is that arbitrators are skilled at picking out the important facts and

evidence. Thus, forensic “style” may not be as important as it is in a jury

trial. Still, it is best to be as effective as possible even if your audience is

an arbitrator or panel.