Innovating new practice

Herbert Smith doesn’t believe in traditional practices for their own sake. We continually explore new or different ways to resolve cases for the benefit of our clients.

Winterthur – baseball arbitration

Baseball arbitration is an unusual method of resolving disputes, originally used in the negotiation of baseball players' salaries. It involves each party putting forward an initial "bid" indicating what it believes the correct figure for the amount in dispute. An independent expert is then appointed to make its own determination of the figure. Whichever of the parties' bids is closest to the figure determined by the independent expert "wins" the baseball arbitration and is deemed to be the correct figure. In the case involving Winterthur there was some US$900 million between the two bids put forward. The amount at stake was large and the result was of obvious importance to Winterthur and its then parent, Credit Suisse. The timetable for resolving the dispute was also tightly drawn. This meant that the work involved, while at times challenging, was always exhilarating. The opportunities for trainee involvement were varied and included helping to prepare written presentations to the independent expert, carrying out legal research relevant to the case and organising communications between the client and its team of professional advisors.

Having completed the baseball arbitration process, Winterthur hosted a celebration day in Switzerland involving winter sports followed by a black tie dinner and dance. It was the ideal way to close such a fast paced and exhilarating case.