On 24 March 2023, the Metaverse Dispute Resolution Colloquium was organised by the Digital Law Center (University of Geneva), the Geneva Center for International Dispute Settlement (CIDS) and MetaverseLegal to explore selected legal issues arising from disputes in/about the metaverse. Previous contributions to this blog have explored metaverse-related issues here. After the introductory remarks by…

The United States Supreme Court’s June 2020 decision in GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC (“GE Energy“) made clear that, under U.S. law, a non-signatory to an arbitration agreement may invoke equitable estoppel to compel arbitration under Article II(3) of the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of…

There have been significant legal developments in recent times in Australia concerning the proper choice of law applicable to an arbitration agreement. Cases have centred on how to give effect to parties’ choice. But there are other laws which, despite not being chosen by the parties as the law applicable to the arbitration agreement, may…

In its recent decision of 9 October 2020 in Enka Insaat Ve Sanayi AS v OOO “Insurance Company Chubb” & Ors [2020] UKSC 38 (Enka), the UK Supreme Court upheld the decision of the England and Wales Court of Appeal earlier this year restraining Chubb Russia from proceeding with parallel court proceedings in Russia, but…

In the recent ruling of 29 April 2020, the England and Wales Court of Appeal, departing from Sulamérica, has held the seat of arbitration as an implied choice of the law of the arbitration agreement in cases where parties expressly chose the law applicable to the main contract and the seat of arbitration under a…

Counsel ethics has been a recurring talking point in arbitration circles. Most recently, the topic was raised at the 2018 SIAC Congress, then again by a panel at the 2019 Australian Bar Association Conference. The continued interest in this issue is unsurprising. As arbitration becomes more international, we must increasingly confront the difficulties that arise…

With as many as nine identified approaches to the potential applicable law to the arbitration agreement, Marc Blessing, as an experienced author, arbitrator and lawyer, could not help but ask: “Are we thus faced with a magnificent confusion?”.1)“The Law Applicable to the Arbitration Clause” 1999, in Improving the Efficiency of Arbitration Agreements and Awards: 40…

“Whatever the nature of the transaction, in international business there is one prime question fundamental to the validity, interpretation, effectiveness and enforceability of the contract: what law governs?” – Professor Julian Lew QC, Preface, Rethinking Choice of Law in Cross-Border Sales, Gustavo Moser (Eleven International Publishing, 2018). On 15 April 2019, a sunny Monday in…

We often mislead ourselves into believing that, by arriving at a certain contract decision, we have carefully considered all available options, weighed up the pros and cons of each attribute dispassionately, and selected the most favourable outcome, i.e. the one which maximises our welfare in the transaction. Regretfully, however, we are seldom cognisant of the…

The title of this post may, at a first sight, seem rather odd, but this author submits that choice of a governing contract law can actually be explained using ice cream as an analogy.   Assuming an individual generally likes ice cream, a question that arises is whether any thought has ever gone into why…