Even when an outside counsel is involved, the in-house management of arbitration proceedings is an important factor of success. There are a number of issues that are ideally considered at the very beginning of an arbitration. The following four are among them:

Recording internal efforts.

Especially if document production is involved or technical expertise must be provided, internal efforts for an arbitration can be considerable. There are different views on the recoverability of internal party costs. However, any attempt at recoverability will require in-house efforts to be quantified and specified. For in-house teams – including legal teams – this will notably require keeping track of time spent on the arbitration.

Preserving and collecting information.

Even if applicable law does not require specific action, one of the first steps at the beginning of an arbitration should be to think about preserving information that might be relevant to the arbitration, such as by suspending automatic deletion routines. Preserving witness accounts is also important. However, witnesses may have been, or may now be, employed with the opposing side. This may inform when and how to approach such potential witnesses.

Protecting personal data.

Processing personal data for use in an arbitration will need to observe the applicable data protection law. Under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), this might, for example, require caution when personal data will foreseeably be transferred to non-EU countries. Also, a party might need to document and justify the collection and storage of data and to inform individuals whose data is collected, or might need to consider whether it has joint controller status and which consequences arise from such status.

Counterclaims.

When an arbitration begins, the claimant may have spent months considering potential claims. The respondent might not be as prepared. Some arbitral rules require that potential counterclaims be filed at a relatively early stage of the arbitration, making it advisable to consider such claims right from the outset. Of course, outside counsel can assist in the legal assessment. However, in-house counsel with a closer proximity to the business are often in a linchpin position as regards unearthing sets of facts that might warrant a closer look.