Testimony at the Hearing

• Author: David A. Allgeyer
• Pages: 89-98

89

Testimony at the Hearing

The heart of any arbitration hearing is, of course, the presenta-

tion of testimony. This is the chance for the arbitrator to hear,

usually in person, from the key actors for each side who were

actually on the scene as the dispute unfolded.

TRANSCRIPTS

Most arbitrators I know would prefer to have a transcript of tes-

timony if possible. Most arbitrators, like most lawyers, are quite

gifted note takers, having had decades of practice. But notes

often are not a perfect substitute for a verbatim transcript on

closely contested issues. The transcript gives everyone a way to

be precise about what the testimony was.

But most arbitrators are also committed to trying to keep

costs down if at all possible. So it is unlikely that an arbitrator

will ever insist or even suggest it is necessary that the parties

bear the additional costs of a transcript.

When is a transcript worth the cost? Here is one way to

think about it.

Many patent arbitrations are very document heavy. Often,

the real evidence is in the documents. In most patent cases, much

of the key evidence is found in the patents, prosecution history,

technical information about the involved products, financial doc-

uments, and the like. Explanations and discussion of these docu-

ments and the issues raised by them in testimony are important

CHAPTER 14