Recently, I saw a video from an experienced attorney advising that all attorneys given an opening statement during arbitration. I disagree. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

I’ve waived opening & closing statements in proceedings before, wherein I’ve defended the employers, & have still won those proceedings. My rationale is that the arbitrator or decision maker already has some familiarity with the case; I probably won’t say anything earth shattering in an opening statement; & my witnesses will do the talking much better than I ever could.

Here’s an example of one of those cases: https://www.charlesakrugel.com/business-management/client-we-beat-them-arbitration-the-nlrb-unemployment-comp-board-of-review.html. In that arbitration (the decision is published online in the prior link), I waived opening statement & the union gave a 10-minute opening. We still won. In that case, I knew that based on the order I would call my witnesses, & knowing what they were going to testify to, there’s no way that an opening statement from me would add anything to their narratives. It was their testimony that would win the case, not my speechifying. Moreover, my impression was that the arbitrator, who’s very experienced, was relieved that more time would be devoted to our witnesses than my own narrative.

Agree or disagree? Any thoughts?