Critics of international arbitration often express concerns about the quality of legal reasoning in arbitration, even though conventional wisdom within the international community suggests that international arbitral awards reflect relatively robust reasoning that is often on a par with that of decisions rendered by commercial courts.  Why the discrepancy?   I have written elsewhere about…

Over the last few years, legitimacy has become a hot topic in international arbitration. Although the investment regime has borne the brunt of the attack, commercial proceedings have also suffered from criticism. The range of voices questioning the propriety of arbitration has been at times quite diverse and has included journalists, judges, governments and human…

Although maritime arbitration is now considered to be distinct from both international commercial arbitration and investment arbitration, the procedures have common legal roots as well as many common procedures. As a result, specialists in commercial and investment proceedings may be interested in certain recent amendments to Lloyd’s Standard Salvage and Arbitration Clauses, particularly with respect…

Most arbitration agreements in the international realm require arbitrators to produce a “reasoned” or “fully reasoned” award. However, relatively little has been written on why such awards are necessary and what constitutes a reasoned award in a legal regime that includes elements of both the common and civil law. On one level, the question of…

On November 17, 2014, the tribunal in Alemanni v. Argentine Republic issued its long-anticipated decision on jurisdiction and admissibility. Alemanni is the third in a series of large-scale arbitrations arising out of Argentina’s default on its sovereign debt, and the most recent decision bears some resemblance to the preliminary awards rendered in the other two…

Two months ago, readers of the Kluwer Arbitration blog were asked to participate in some ongoing surveys relating international commercial mediation and conciliation. The studies were being conducted to assist UNCITRAL and UNCITRAL Working Group II (Arbitration and Conciliation) as they consider a proposal from the Government of the United States regarding a possible convention…

The views expressed are those of the author alone and should not be regarded as representative of or binding upon the author’s institution or the ArbitralWomen. Adam Raviv recently posted an entry about the Eleventh Annual ITA-ASIL Conference on class and mass claims in arbitration. Adam’s summary provides excellent insights into the importance of large-scale…