Checklist · Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution
Arbitration preliminary-hearing agenda
Agenda of topics to take to the first procedural hearing in a commercial arbitration, built from the issues a federal court would cover under Rules 16 and 26(f). The administering rules control, and they are not restated here.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- United States
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 3 authorities it cites, for United States.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use to prepare for the preliminary hearing or case-management conference once an arbitrator or tribunal is in place. Do not file it in court. Do not send it as a proposed procedural order until the lawyer has checked it against the clause and the institution's current rules.
Used for these tasks
- Draft procedural correspondence and a proposed procedural order
- Track the tribunal appointment deadlines after the notice of arbitration
- Map a tiered dispute resolution clause and diarise each step before arbitration
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may turn the clause and the lawyer's issue list into this agenda. The lawyer decides which topics the clause or the institutional rules actually leave to the hearing.
AI may
- List the clause's seat, institution, language and number of arbitrators in the header from the contract
- Mark an agenda item the clause already decides, so the lawyer does not reopen it by accident
- Add the lawyer's issue list under the merits heading without adding a new claim
AI must not
- Must not cite an institutional rule by number unless the lawyer has opened it and supplied the number
- Must not draft the procedural order as if the agenda were the order
- Must not agree dates, discovery limits or confidentiality on the client's behalf
The lawyer checks
- Seat, institution, language and arbitrator count match the clause
- Any item presented as required by institutional rules has been checked against the current text
- Preservation and confidentiality are on the list, because they are easy to skip at the first hearing
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is available after you log in. It is free. When you log in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution
- ACICA model arbitration clause (standard and expedited): choosing and completing it
- Federal Court Form 51: originating application for stay of a proceeding under the International Arbitration Act 1974
- Heads of agreement signed at the end of a mediation (binding terms of settlement)
- Stay of court proceedings under the International Arbitration Act, section 7
- Preservation notice when arbitration is anticipated
- Expert determination agreement (referral of an existing dispute to an expert)
- Federal Court Form 50: originating application for an order in terms of an arbitration award
- Request to refer court proceedings to arbitration under Model Law article 8
- Notice of arbitration (ACICA Rules, with UNCITRAL and ad hoc variants)
- Disclosure of confidential information in a Model Law arbitration
- Enforcing a foreign arbitral award in the Federal Court: application checklist (International Arbitration Act 1974 ss 8 and 9)
- Federal Court Form 52: originating application to enforce a foreign award under the International Arbitration Act 1974
- Mediation agreement (with confidentiality and recording/AI-notetaker clause)
- Conferral letter before an arbitration discovery application
- Correction, interpretation and set-aside times after a Model Law award
- Federal Court Form 58: originating application to enforce an award under section 35(4) of the International Arbitration Act 1974
- Multi-tiered dispute resolution clause (notice, negotiation, mediation, then expert determination or arbitration)
- Redfern schedule for document production requests (with guidance)
- Arbitration confidentiality and non-waiver stipulation
- Federal Court Form 53: originating application for relief under the Model Law, section 18 of the International Arbitration Act 1974
- Procedural order (or party agreement) on the use of AI in the arbitration
- Subpoena in aid of a Model Law arbitration
- Notice and consent for AI transcription or notetaking in mediations and other ADR sessions
- Federal Court Form 54: application for a subpoena under the International Arbitration Act 1974
All precedents for Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution · Tasks and AI use in this area