The View From an International Arbitration Customer: In Dire Need of Early Resolution

Roland Schroeder, Legal Counsel, General Electric, United Kingdom

In-house lawyers live in a world where every day the practice of law directly interfaces with the operation of a business. Within this world, the focus is not just on winning but on advancing the overall commercial needs and objectives. If the company prevails in a dispute but the commercial goals are not advanced - and advanced in a timely fashion - then we have still fallen short in the eyes of the business. The same lesson applies to our outside counsel and to the institutions who oversee the arbitration process. As a consequence, we believe that international arbitration institutions and professionals should be more mindful of the goals and objectives of businesses that are the customers of dispute resolution services.

GE traces its beginnings to Thomas A. Edison who established Edison Electric Light Company in 1878. In 1892, a merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomas-Houston Electric Company created General Electric Comapany. GE is the only company listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Index today that was also included in the original index in 1896.