Long empty conference table under a single band of light in a dark room

Garrick & Hale LLP Chicago /// 2026

Arbitration& disputes

[ Practice /// 02 — tribunals, seats, and settlements ]

What we take on[ Scope ]

Private forums,public stakes

Arbitration is not litigation with the lights off. It is a different game with different physics: no appeal worth the name, tribunals that reward discipline, and awards that still have to become money.

Institutional arbitration. Commercial disputes under major institutional rules, domestic and cross-border, from filing through final award.
Cross-border enforcement. Converting awards into assets across jurisdictions, and resisting enforcement of awards that should not stand.
Mediation as strategy. Structured mediation deployed at the moment of maximum leverage, never as a stall.
Investigation-adjacent disputes. The claims that follow internal investigations: indemnification, clawback, separation, and successor exposure.
Dispute-system design. Auditing and rewriting arbitration clauses across contract portfolios before they are tested.

How we run a matter[ Seat to satisfaction ]

Step 1.

Clause and seat audit

The arbitration agreement decides half the fight before it starts: seat, rules, panel, language, interim relief.

Step 2.

Tribunal strategy

Arbitrator selection treated like jury selection, with a written profile of every candidate on the list.

Step 3.

The hearing record

Institutional arbitration rewards a disciplined record: focused witness statements, tight expert scope, no theater.

Step 4.

Award to assets

An award is paper until it is money. We plan enforcement jurisdictions before the hearing, not after.

Process illustrative. Fictional demo firm; not legal advice.

Band of light across a long dark boardroom table

Doctrine[ Editorial ]

An award ispaper untilit is money

We plan enforcement before the hearing opens: where the assets sit, which courts will recognize the award, and what the counterparty will do the day it loses.

The record[ Disputed matters, by the numbers ]

Matters taken to verdict or award

Bench, jury, and tribunal decisions

0^$B

Aggregate amount in controversy

Across active and resolved matters

Forums appeared in

Courts, tribunals, and arbitral seats

Illustrative figures. Fictional demo firm. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

City skyline at night through rain-streaked office glass

Case evaluation[ Confidential /// simulated demo ]

Bring usthe disputeearly

The best litigation outcomes are engineered before the complaint is filed. A partner reviews every evaluation request within two business days.

Request a case evaluation

Attorney advertising — fictional demo. Demo form, responses simulated.