COVID-19

Arbitral Award, COVID-19, Enforcement, International arbitration, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, Public Policy, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, Virtual hearings

(American University of Armenia, ADR Clinic), (American University of Armenia, Technology and Innovation Legal Clinic), and (Equanimity Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

The COVID-19 outbreak as of now affects 183 states and a number of territories. Out of 164 State signatories to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (the “New York Convention”) only Marshall Islands, Tonga, Palau are not affected by the pandemic; all 153 state members to the ICSID Convention…

COVID-19, Hearing protocol, Hearings, Videoconferencing, Virtual hearings

(Kirkland & Ellis)/ /Leave a comment

Virtual hearings are not a new idea. The arbitration community only started to seriously discuss the benefits and the logistics of having virtual hearings in lieu of physical hearings when the world was put on pause by COVID-19 in around February 2020. It is not easy to organize a virtual hearing, let alone all the…

COVID-19, Security for Costs, Third party funding

, (Squire Patton Boggs)/ /1 Comment
Young ICCA

The COVID-19 pandemic has already created market volatility and adversely affected the financial position of companies and individuals around the world. This post explores two main ideas: (1) whether the pandemic is likely to result in an upturn in recourse to third party funding arrangements; and (2) whether arbitrating parties should anticipate increased exposure to…

COVID-19, Online Arbitration, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Virtual hearings

(Richard Levin Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

The impact of the pandemic on arbitration has been the subject of several posts on this Blog (see here and here). Rightly so, this is a seismic event in history that certainly has shaken the dispute resolution process, both state sponsored judiciaries as well as arbitration tribunals and practice generally. Entities which fall victim during…

COVID-19, Hearings, New York Convention, Procedural Fairness, Videoconferencing, Virtual hearings

(Kim & Chang) and (Nishimura & Asahi)/ /Leave a comment

Conducting all or parts of a hearing in the form of a virtual hearing has become a daily reality for many arbitrators, parties, and witnesses as the COVID pandemic continues to disrupt the legal practice. But as countries gradually ease out of lockdown and find their way into a “new” normal, it may be worth…

COVID-19, Remote hearings

(3 Verulam Buildings & ArbTech) and (ArbTech)/ /Leave a comment

The travel restrictions and social distancing measures imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have brought about an exponential increase of virtual get-togethers, including hearings via video conferencing in both litigation and arbitration proceedings. Courts and tribunals in England and Wales reported an increase of audio hearings by over 500% and video hearings by 340% during the…

Best practices, COVID-19, ODR, Online Arbitration, sociology of international arbitration, Virtual hearings

(University of Sydney & Williams Trade Law)/ /Leave a comment

Travel and other restrictions due the COVID-19 pandemic have meant that virtual hearings have become the “new normal” for international commercial arbitration, and even perhaps for investor-state arbitrations. But what are the longer-term prospects for virtual hearings or “e-arbitration” more generally, and even for the relative popularity of arbitral seats, in the wake of the…

Construction, Construction arbitration, COVID-19, Denmark, Energy, Infrastructure, Paris Arbitration Week, Prague Rules, United Arab Emirates, USA, Webinar

(Hogan Lovells)/ /Leave a comment

How severely are international construction projects affected by global COVID-19 pandemic? What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for international construction disputes? As with so many other questions arising in relation to the pandemic, these questions will only be answered definitively in retrospect. For construction arbitration practitioners though, one of the immediate and graspable effects has…

Access to Justice, COVID-19, Cybersecurity, Due process, Virtual hearings

(Herbert Smith Freehills China International Business and Economic Law (CIBEL) Centre of UNSW Law)/ /1 Comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

In addition to the serious implications for people’s health and public healthcare services, the COVID-19 pandemic also imposes challenges for the administration of justice.   Increasing Demand for Amicable Methods of Dispute Resolution The current crisis creates a need for business and its legal representatives to consider carefully appropriate and alternative options for the efficient,…

Africa, Arbitration, COVID-19, Diversity, International arbitration, Social networks, Webinar, Willem C. Vis Moot, Workshop

, / /Leave a comment

“When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” (John F. Kennedy, Former US President). The current Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc globally impacting people in grievous ways. The resultant containment measures by governments have severely limited or otherwise rendered physical interactions impossible. As…

COVID-19, Force majeure, India, Insolvency, Public Policy, United States, United States Courts, USA

/ /Leave a comment

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns have the legal community debating and exploring force majeure. That, however, does not rule out the imminent likelihood of international arbitration locking horns with domestic insolvency law. Arbitration agreements and subsequent awards may possibly be left redundant and award-holders remediless where insolvency proceedings are commenced in respect of…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrator Intelligence, Arbitrators, COVID-19, International arbitration

(Bocconi University)/ /7 Comments
Arbitrator Intelligence

Long before the now-popular phrase “pale, male, and stale,” leading arbitrators were instead often referred to as a “club,” a “cartel,” or even a “monopoly.” Those references were meant metaphorically, even jokingly. The irony is that they turn out to hold important truths that are promiscuously intertwined with the pale-male-stale moniker. To understand both, we…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, COVID-19, Institutional Rules, International arbitration, International Commercial Arbitration, SIAC, Virtual hearings

(SIAC)/ /1 Comment

Background There is much public discourse on the impact of the ongoing pandemic on international arbitrations. Commentators and scholars have provided perspectives on how to navigate and find safe harbours in the uncharted waters of COVID-19. In the “new normal” of wide-ranging travel advisories and restrictions, there is an emerging consensus to better integrate the…

COVID-19, International arbitration, Remote hearings

(WilmerHale & Queen Mary University of London)/ /1 Comment

Remote hearings are nothing new, but the COVID-19 crisis has forced international arbitration out of its comfort zone. Parties, counsel, and arbitrators must adapt to the new reality of conducting proceedings in the face of travel restrictions and social distancing measures. One particularly thorny question is whether and to what extent planned physical hearings that…

Case Management, COVID-19, Efficiency, ICC, ICC Guidance Note, ODR, Virtual hearings

/ /1 Comment
ArbitralWomen

“Alice again enters a fantastical world, this time by climbing through a mirror into the world that she can see beyond it. There she finds that, just like a reflection, everything is reversed”…and “walking away from something brings you towards it” (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll). The current worldwide outbreak forced by Covid-19 has…

COVID-19, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investor-State arbitration

(Egyptian Ministry of Justice)/ /Leave a comment

COVID-19: Background and Impact on Foreign Investment in the Developing Countries As discussed on the Blog previously, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus named SARS-CoV-2, continues to rise globally, as shown on this page from the WHO. Today, the virus has already spread in Western Europe and the…

ADR, Brazil, COVID-19, Greece, Kluwer Mediation Blog, Mediation, Singapore, Singapore Mediation Convention, Uzbekistan

(Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

“I prefer to hope that this shift in perspective will be a chance for people, organisations, businesses, politics, whatever, to put so many of their ongoing disputes and conflicts aside because with this new perspective comes the realisation that these are not worth fighting. It is time to cooperate. May we go through and come…

Arbitration institution, CAM Santiago, Chile, COVID-19, Interviews with Our Editors, Latin America

(Locke Lord LLP) and (Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment

Welcome to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog, Ms. Letelier!  We are grateful for this opportunity to learn more about the Center for Arbitration and Mediation of Santiago (“CAM Santiago” for its initials in Spanish), and its administration of complex disputes, as well as about the attractiveness of Santiago as seat for international arbitration.    To start,…

COVID-19, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor-State arbitration

(Georgetown Law)/ /Leave a comment

Extraordinary Times  These are extraordinary times in many regards. The spread of novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), now considered a pandemic, continues to have a significant global impact on several fronts. For States, the pandemic of course presents significant public health challenges. As we are seeing, it also presents significant economic challenges, due to the convergence of…

COVID-19, International Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investment protection, Investor, Investor-State arbitration

, (Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP)/ /2 Comments

In response to the escalating COVID-19 crisis, States around the world have taken a variety of measures seeking to stem the spread of COVID-19 and to provide for medical supplies and protective equipment, including emergency declarations empowering governments to take control of private businesses, closure of borders, quarantines, stay-at-home orders, suspension of mortgage and utility…

COVID-19, MENA, Middle East, Moot Courts, Videoconferencing, Vis Moot, Willem C. Vis Moot

(Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution), (Commercial Law Development Program of the US Department of Commerce), and (CILE; Reed Smith LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The Middle East Vis Pre-Moot Program (the “Program”), scheduled in Bahrain from 10 to 14 March 2020, was prepared and excited to welcome over 200 students, faculty, and lawyers to celebrate the Program’s 10th anniversary. However, on 25 February, amid the unfortunate COVID-19 global pandemic, Bahrain took precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the…

Arbitration, COVID-19, International Investment Arbitration, International Law

(Queens' College, University of Cambridge) and (Twenty Essex)/ /1 Comment

At the time of writing, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passed 600,000, across more than 200 countries and territories. The World Health Organization (the WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020, i.e. an ‘extraordinary event’ which is ‘serious, unusual or unexpected’ carries trans-national implications, and may require immediate…

Conflicts of interest, COVID-19, Ethics, IBA Guidelines on Party Representation, LCIA Guidelines for Parties' Legal Representatives, LCIA Rules, Vis Moot, Willem C. Vis Moot

(University of Oxford) and (Law Offices of Kiran N Gore PLLC; The George Washington University Law School)/ /Leave a comment

For decades, like clockwork, the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (‘Vis Moot’) and its sister competition, Vis East Moot, have brought together students, academics, practitioners, and arbitrators to consider emerging and important substantive topics in international arbitration and international sales law. Many of us honed our passion for these fields as student participants in the Vis…

Best practices, COVID-19, Environment, Procedure, sociology of international arbitration

(Greenwood Arbitration) and (Columbia Law School)/ /2 Comments

In an industry which thrives on lofty ideals of amicable dispute resolution and open debate, it is startling to observe that the environmental impact involved in the conduct of international arbitrations has received little attention.  This is not to suggest that the international arbitration community has completely ignored the issue, but the focus has been…