Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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Over a 31-year career as an arbitrator, this author has repeatedly heard co-panelists and other arbitrators urge restraint in drafting the final award.

The fear—sometimes expressed, sometimes implied—is that a reasoned award that is too detailed and too lengthy unduly exposes the decision to vacatur.

That’s silly, and it reveals a lack of courage and conviction in making awards. It is based on a fallacy about saying too much in reasoned awards.

Competent arbitrators should not worry about vacatur for giving in-depth analyses of the facts and law of a dispute. Indeed, the opposite is true: the law shows that risk of vacatur is greater where too little is said. Then the award may be deemed insufficient and vacated on grounds of exceeding authority.