Over the last several years a concern which has gained traction, particularly in common law jurisdictions, is the impact of commercial arbitration on the development of the commercial common law, especially contract law. The fear is that the popularity of arbitration is diverting commercial disputes away from the courts with the consequence of frustrating the development of the commercial common law. There appears an obvious logic to this concern given the historical heavy reliance on the courts for the development of the commercial common law. However, when considered at a deeper level, the concerns expressed raise several important questions: Are court decisions as important to the development of the law as they once were? Is there a significant difference between the importance of court decisions in common law as opposed to civil law jurisdictions? Is commercial litigation really declining? If so, is the decline a consequence of the popularity of arbitration or are there other reasons at play? Finally, but importantly, assuming there is a real problem, what is the best way of dealing with it?