Arbitration’s international character is derived from it being a melting pot of individuals from divergent academic, professional, age, gender, racial and ethnic backgrounds. But how far have we come from the adage that arbitration is “pale, male and stale”? The Asian International Arbitration Centre (“AIAC”) launched its inaugural Diversity in Arbitration Week (“DAW”) as part…
Gender and ethnic inequalities in the workplace have been the norm for decades with no effective measures been taken to address them, despite mounting evidence of discrimination and disadvantage faced by women and ethnic minorities across the world. Globally, most corporations, law-firms, government agencies, public offices recognize the need for diversity to enhance decision-making and…
Begin at the Beginning On November 28, Rapper Jay-Z filed a petition in Manhattan Supreme Court pertaining to an ongoing arbitration administered by the AAA-ICDR. He sought (i) a temporary restraining order to halt Iconix from pursuing claims in arbitration; (ii) a preliminary injunction staying arbitration for a period of ninety days for the parties…
The past year has made clear that the issue of diversity and inclusion is, at last, firmly on the agenda. The 15th Annual ITA-ASIL Conference, held in Washington, D.C. on 4 April 2018, was the first major international conference to tackle this issue in the context of international arbitration. Speakers critically examined the lack of…
2017 was yet another significant year for international arbitration. Many arbitral institutions amended their arbitration rules, including: – the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) Arbitration Rules and Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Investment Arbitration Rules which both came into effect on 1 January 2017, – the Thai Arbitration Institute (TAI) Arbitration Rules on 31 January…
Please do not stop talking about gender and racial diversity as it pertains to the arbitrator diversity problem. Of course I know my learned friend penned his proposal (and I think it is a good one) to be a call to action, but I think it is essential to not only continue the conversation regarding…
White & Case’s recent research should provide some comfort to the arbitral community by showing that arbitral institutions are becoming increasingly flexible and responsive to users’ needs. Flexibility was in fact a characteristic which the 2015 survey conducted by White & Case with Queen Mary University of London established as being one of the most…
Last week GAR released the shortlist for its 2017 award for “best innovation by an individual or organization”. What is notable about this year’s shortlist is that of the ten innovations on the list, six directly address transparency and/or diversity in international arbitration. From an online directory of African arbitration practitioners, to the launch of “Dispute…
New years are a great opportunity to take stock and to prepare for future developments, despite the obvious difficulties in predicting what the main trends will be. This is also the case for 2017. Looking back to 2016 there are two topics that immediately stand out: gender diversity and transparency. Both topics were subject to…
