Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons (the "arbitrators", "arbiters" or "arbitral tribunal"), by whose decision (the "award") they agree to be bound. It is a resolution technique in which a third party reviews the evidence in the case and imposes a decision that is legally binding for both sides and enforcable. Other forms of ADR include mediation (a form of settlement negotiation facilitated by a neutral third party) and non-binding resolution by experts. Arbitration is often used for the resolution of commercial disputes, particularly in the context of international commercial transactions. The use of arbitration is also frequently employed in consumer and employment matters, where arbitration may be mandated by the terms of employment or commercial contracts.

Arbitration can be either voluntary or mandatory (although mandatory arbitration can only come from a statute or from a contract that is voluntarily entered into, where the parties agree to hold all existing or future disputes to arbitration, without necessarily knowing, specifically, what disputes will ever occur) and can be either binding or non-binding. Non-binding arbitration is similar to mediation in that a decision can not be imposed on the parties. However, the principal distinction is that whereas a mediator will try to help the parties find a middle ground on which to compromise, the (non-binding) arbitrator remains totally removed from the settlement process and will only give a determination of liability and, if appropriate, an indication of the quantum of damages payable. By one definition arbitration is binding and so non-binding arbitration is technically not arbitration.

Jan Paulsson is a pre-eminent scholar and practitioner in the area of international arbitration. Jan Paulsson is co-head of the international arbitration and public international law groups of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP. He received his A.B. from Harvard in 1971, his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1975, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal, and a Diplôme d’etudes supérieurs spécialisées from the University of Paris in 1977.

Professor Paulsson has participated as counsel or arbitrator in over 500 arbitrations in Europe, Asia, the United States and Africa. . He has conducted cases under the ICC, UNCITRAL, ICSID, LCIA, and AAA Rules, as well as before the International Court of Justice. He is President of the London Court of International Arbitration, the World Bank Administrative Tribunal, and the EBRD Administrative Tribunal; and is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Professor Paulsson holds the Michael Klein Distinguished Scholar Chair at the University of Miami School of Law. He is also the Faculty Chair of the Specialization in International Arbitration and will head the newly-established institute for international arbitration which will provide an enhanced curriculum, research facilities, training, and CLE courses in international arbitration.

Gary B. Born (born September 14, 1955) is an international lawyer and academic. He is chair of the International Arbitration and International Litigation practices at the international law firm, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, and the author of a number of commentaries, casebooks and other works on international arbitration and litigation.

Born attended primary schools in France and Germany and completed his secondary education in the US. He received a bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Haverford College in 1978 and a J.D., summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1981.

Born served as a law clerk to the Hon. Henry J. Friendly, US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1981–1982) and the Hon. William H. Rehnquist, US Supreme Court (1982–1983). Born has practiced with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in London for the past two decades and has taught international dispute resolution at law schools in Europe, the United States and Asia.

Born has published numerous works in the fields of both international arbitration and international litigation. These works have contributed to the development of both fields as independent fields of legal study and practice.