For starters avoid arbitration if at all possible. If you can't, have the jurisdiction in your backyard. If your dealing with a multinational or a company with offices on the Coast for instance, you want to avoid being sued in California. The cost of travel alone is prohibitive. Juliette Passer's Segment Domain Name Registration Pitfalls regarding registration.
Service agreements are very important.
Read them always. Statement of Policy is very important as well. You can register from one to ten years, thereby avoiding automatic renewals. Just one less thing to worry about. Once you've registered the domain name, provsions usually exist for 60 days that allow you to drop the registration, if you're unhappy with the service of the registering company.