Pre-event NAD 2026

For the third consecutive year, we have the pleasure of inviting you to the Wiersholm pre-event, organized alongside the 2026 Norwegian Arbitration Day in Oslo – with the main theme:

Confirmation Bias in Arbitration: Hidden danger and strategic opportunity

Confirmation bias is one of the most well-documented cognitive biases and perhaps the most overlooked in the courtroom. All human beings tend to seek out evidence that supports what we already believe, and lawyers are no exception. Choosing arbitration over settlement carries a risk of a negative outcome: The counsel may have been blind to the weaknesses of their own case and miss the evidence and arguments that could move the tribunal.

At the same time, confirmation bias can be an opportunity. Since judges and arbitrators are influenced by the same psychological mechanisms, litigators who understand these processes can frame their arguments in ways that reinforce the tribunal’s intuitive convictions.

Also, this year psychologist and decision-science researcher Jan-Ole Hesselberg will give the keynote address – followed by a panel discussion.