GUEST-POST: Arbitration Hearing Technology – Using PowerPoint to Streamline the Hearing

By Peter S. Vogel

A software vendor made an arbitration demand that its hospital customer failed to pay thousands of dollars for its annual computer software maintenance support, and the hospital responded that it had terminated the agreements. Sounded like a pretty simple and straight forward dispute. At the preliminary telephone hearing the parties requested two days for the hearing. Discovery ran its normal course and the software vendor claimant and hospital respondent submitted witness statements and evidence before the hearing, which also seemed pretty standard.

Simplified 2 Hour Hearing

However as the hearing began the parties informed me that they had agreed to a new hearing format. The parties told me that indeed they needed less than a day for the hearing with a new format – PowerPoint and one witnesses. The claimant’s lawyer presented argument using 16 PowerPoint slides which took about an hour. No cross examination, that was it for the claimant. In response the respondent’s lawyer made a brief argument and asked his client’s sole representative to give his view of the dispute in the form of a monologue. Then the claimant’s lawyer briefly cross examined the respondent’s representative, no redirect. So the respondent’s case took about an hour as well. The parties submitted post hearing briefs and an award was subsequently made.

Cost Effective Creative Hearing

The parties were able to simplify the hearing by breaking the mold of a standard arbitration, using PowerPoint and eliminating needless witness testimony. I have encouraged other parties to consider this format during preliminary hearings since this case, and hope more arbitration hearings will follow creative formats that make the arbitration process most cost effective.

Peter S. Vogel is a trial partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP where he is Chair of the Electronic Discovery Group and Co-Chair of the Technology Industry Team. Before practicing law he worked as a computer programmer, received a Masters in Computer Science, and taught graduate courses in information systems. For 12 years he served as the founding Chair of the Texas Supreme Court on Judicial Information Technology which is responsible for helping automate the Texas court system and putting Internet on the desktops of all 3,200 judges. Peter has taught courses on the Law of eCommerce at the SMU Dedman School of Law since 2000. Many of Peter’s topics are discussed on his blog www.vogelitlawblog.com.