Is your purpose to convince the other side of the strength of your case? Is your purpose to bring an insurance company to settlement? Is your purpose to demonstrate your skills to your client?

2. Read the Arbitration Notice.

What are the Court Requirements? Read the Court Rules to find out requirements.

3. Keep the Arbitration Memo short! An Arbitration Memo is not a brief, not a Law Review article, and not a book. It is a short advocacy document.

4. Arbitrators typically are attorneys in private practice who are merely being minimally compensated for services as an Arbitrator. In most arbitrations in the Courthouse, the arbitrator is not going to have a chance to read the Arbitration Statement until immediately prior to the Arbitration. There will be little opportunity for research and little time for careful consideration of complex issues. (The Federal system gives more time and control to the Arbitrator to review the matter and individually set up the Arbitration.)

5. What does an Arbitrator want from an Arbitration Memo?

A. The first question of the Arbitrator is "What is this case about?"

B. What are the areas of factual disagreement?

C. Are there any tricky areas of law?

D. How does current case/statutory law handle these tricky issues? Use short citation if absolutely required.

An Arbitration Memo should be prepared like a newspaper article. The introductory paragraph should answer: 1.What is the case about; 2. What are the main factual issues, and 3. Where the legal disagreements occur? This section of the Arbitration Statement is entitled "Introduction" or "Preliminary Statement."

6. Statement of Facts. Do not repeat the pleadings! If they are so tricky and significant, it can be attached as an exhibit. Do not make continual references to the transcripts, interrogatories, etc. This is not an Appellate Brief. A sample statement for a Plaintiff is as follows:

"BIG MAC, Inc., the Plaintiff, entered into a written agreement on January 15, 1999, with the Defendant, M. Engles, Inc., for the sale of one Macwidget worth $75,000. The written agreement, Exhibit "A," provides that "7. Upon receipt of the Macwidget, buyer has seven days to examine it and return it for any defects. After that period, unless a supersized warranty is purchased, any claims for repairs or defects will be charged at the standard repair rate of BIG MAC, Inc." Defendant did not report any defects or repair problems during the 7 days after delivery. Defendant claims that it did not open the box of the Macwidget until March 17, 1999. At that time, after normal business hours, foreman Ronald MacDonald opened the Macwidget, sat on it, and claimed that its steering was defective. See Exhibit "B" pages, 13 & 14 of the deposition transcript. Upon inspection of the vehicle by Joe Superior, it was determined that the Macwidget had been improperly driven into a wall and damaged. The Defendant has refused to pay the balance due plus interest and attorney's fees (paragraph 8 of the Agreement). The amount claimed is $83,500 ($75,000 claimed, $4,000 interest, and $3,000 attorneys' fees).

7. Statements of Law. The Statement of Law should be brief and should only recite unusual legal issues. Do not make lengthy quotations or cite any cases unless they are significant and unusual. If you are citing a case or a statute, provide a copy of an excerpt of the case and the particular statutory section as an exhibit.

8. Calculations. If the calculations are too complex to list in the Statement of Facts, a separate section detailing the calculations is imperative. The Arbitrators could use these figures in making their determination.

9. Conclusion. The Conclusion should recite the key factual issues for the Arbitrator to determine as well as the calculation of the amount claimed.

10. Attachments. Do not attach an entire transcript of anything! Simply attach the page before and the page after the relevant quote. Highlight the relevant question and answer. If a case, statute or extracts of both are attached, highlight the important sections. It is not against the rules to make the work of the Arbitrator easier! If the opposing attorney is particularly contentious or has a tendency to misstate facts, an attachment which details the sources may also be helpful.

Facts are presented to the Arbitrators by the Arbitration Statement, by extracts of written documents, and by the statements of the attorneys. Rarely is testimony used at the Arbitration other than to demonstrate the credibility of the client as a witness. The Arbitrators do not need to hear testimony in almost every case. The main reason for presenting testimony is usually to make the client happy, not that it is particularly useful.

11. Formality. The Arbitration Statement should be viewed as an advocacy document, not only for use by the Arbitrator. Remember that the Arbitration Statements many times stay in the Court's file. There is nothing to prevent a Judge from reading those Arbitration Statements. Also, the Arbitration Statements are promptly sent to the client of the other side. This Statement may make the opposing side be more willing to resolve the matter.

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Ronald J. Cappuccio, J.D., LL.M.(Tax), is an Adjunct Professor at Widener University School of Law, Wilmington, DE. He is a graduate of Georgetown University (B.S.F.S.), University of Kansas (J.D.) and the Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M.(Tax)) Mr. Cappuccio is in private practice in Cherry Hill, NJ.