As a Chair of five arbitrators on an Appeal Board, I always focused on listing the issues. It brings focus + clarity to your work. No list + issues can slip through the net.

This is not just a fail safe tactic – it serves two specific purposes;-

First, – if you get it right, and that is an “if”, you bring logic, sequence + order to your work + the Tribunal’s work. Sometimes a list is simple to prepare because the issues are few + obvious. But be careful. There may be different arguments why a Letter of Credit was not opened or a Notice of Appropriation not served. Think it through. That said you want the List to be just that – a List – and not a setting down of the arguments. You need to get the balance right.

Second, – it helps, on occasions, to get the parties to submit one joint list of issues. If that cannot be done, then direct them to submit their own separate lists. This helps in a complicated case involving law and fact, – to get the parties to highlight the key issues.

Let me know what you think and how you get on