Lawyers are not, in general, good at empirical research; and, when a study as fine as that which lies at the heart of this important book comes along, one realizes just how much there is to be learned from the examination of the law in action. Seventy of the leading western arbitration lawyers were surveyed by Dr Bühring-Uhle, in an attempt to see what the primary advantages of arbitration are considered to be and how far mediation and other Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques could enhance the potential of arbitration to produce amicable settlements earlier and more cheaply than is the case at present.

The results of the survey are fascinating. Arbitration emerges as an institution perceived as a neutral forum for the resolution of disputes according to law through awards that are enforceable internationally. Confidentiality, speed, the expertise of the arbitrators, the absence of appeals, and the limited discovery available are also generally reckoned advantages of arbitration, though fewer thought that arbitration had much of an advantage in terms of cost or predictability. Most respondents also thought that parties rarely exhausted settlement options before resorting to arbitration, and many (though fewer of the US practitioners) felt that arbitrators could play a more active role in helping the parties towards a negotiated settlement. This summary does no justice to the richness of the survey or the subtlety of the analysis. The text would be worth obtaining if only for the detail in this section—which amounts to about one quarter of the book, although the survey results inform the whole work. But the book contains a very great deal more besides.

The first three chapters provide an admirable account of the problems of international dispute settlement and the main features of arbitration as it operates in practice. That part of the book is, perhaps, not particularly innovative. But it is clear and sophisticated, distilling great learning into as good an account of this field as can be found anywhere. The final section of the book, which focuses upon alternatives to arbitration, is more innovative. ADR is attracting increasing attention in the periodical literature; here it is given a thorough examination and exposition that demonstrates not only its practical utility but also the considerable theoretical refinement that ADR has already achieved through long-term studies such as the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation. For those unfamiliar with the growing body of literature on ADR, the final chapters of this book (which account for almost half of its length) provide an extraordinarily useful introduction to the major works, and a masterly survey of the current state of the art.

This part of the book combines a scholarly analysis of the theory of ADR with a robust practical critique of institutions such as multi-step negotiation, mediation, and mini-trials. Dr Bühring-Uhle examines in particular, and with extensive reference to practical examples, the ways in which mediation and arbitration may be combined in a single process which captures the benefits of both approaches to dispute settlement; for example, through the scheduling of “mediation windows” in the course of an arbitration process. The case he makes out is compelling; and those advising on dispute settlement clauses in international agreements (as well as those representing parties that are already in dispute) will find here both much practical wisdom and also a great deal of material to stimulate an altogether more imaginative approach to dispute settlement than is commonly adopted.