At its best, international arbitration embodies what Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr's Gary Born calls it the five E's—efficiency, expedition, expertise, evenhandedness and enforceability.

Many of the disputes involve vast sums of money and take place behind closed doors in places like London, Paris, New York, Geneva and Singapore.

But Born, who heads Wilmer's 70-lawyer international arbitration practice and has participated in more than 600 arbitrations, recently shared his thoughts and insights on international arbitration with Lit Daily editor Jenna Greene