Originally from World Arbitration And Mediation Review (WAMR)

Thank you, Lucy. Good morning. I am Jennifer Smith and on behalf of myself and my co-chairs Philippe Pinsolle and Tai-Heng Cheng, we’d like to welcome you all to the 24th Annual ITA Workshop. This year brings us to the final part of the ITA’s three part series exploring the complete lifecycle of an international commercial arbitration. Part I, which was launched in 2010 at the workshop, addressed issues such as drafting the arbitration clause, nominating the arbitral tribunal, preparing initial submissions and holding the first procedural hearing before the arbitral tribunal. Part II in 2011 covered the evidentiary hearing itself and particularly emphasized the importance skilled advocacy in an arbitration proceeding. The audience witnessed how a tribunal might deal with late disclosed documents and saw how a full merits hearing is conducted. We are now to Part III of our mock arbitration, and today the workshop will focus on issues that arise after the conclusion of the hearing. Not to worry, however, if you weren’t able to join us for Part I or Part II, today’s workshop is intended to be a self-contained unit.

Now in this part, you’ll observe how the parties approach closing submissions, attempt to introduce new evidence very late into the proceedings and discuss the sometimes murky world of cost submissions. You will hear a mock tribunal, indeed you will hear several different mock tribunals deliberate on the merits of the case, and the workshop will also discuss different forms of settlement negotiations, settlement tactics, and in the final act, we will address issues of confirmation, enforcement, and potential challenges to an arbitral award. But before we get to Act I, let me first set the stage with a little bit of background information that might be helpful.