Conditional Awards: A Pre-emptive Shield for Chain Disputes in Arbitration
Amidst the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, I represented a Chinese trader (“B”) ensnared in a supply chain dispute that exposed a glaring void in arbitration practice. B, bound by a back-to-back contract with a Vietnamese fruit juice seller (“A”), faced a lawsuit from a downstream Chinese buyer (“C”) due to A’s late delivery. When…