I. INTRODUCTION

 

When I was approached to return to issues of diversity in international

arbitration, I decided to expand on the methodology I had used in the 2003-2004

period in two earlier articles on American minorities in international arbitration.1

In the current assessment, I examined American diversity in international

arbitration across the broader target population for the American Bar

Association’s Goal III diversity efforts: American women, American minorities,2

American lawyers with disabilities, and American LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay,

Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning) lawyers. These four groups are the

target population described in the American Bar Association’s Goal III: To

eliminate bias and enhance diversity. Its two objectives are: 1. “To promote full

and equal participation in the Association, our profession, and the justice system

by all persons,” and 2. “To eliminate bias in the legal profession and the Justice

System.”3 In addition to sending a survey to 413 international arbitration

practitioners of whom I was aware or to whom I was referred, I forwarded it to the

ICC Counsel Alumni members of which I am a member, as well as to The

International Law Discussion Space listserv, the Society of American Law

Teachers listserv, and the Contracts, Dispute Resolution and Minority Groups

listservs of the American Association of Law Schools. Further, I greatly

appreciate that the Oil-Gas-Energy-Mining-Infrastructure Dispute Management

network (“OGEMID”) and ArbitralWomen were kind enough to share the survey

in their online spaces. Thus, an attempt was made to reach as broad a group of

international arbitration practitioners as possible on all five continents. Finally,

based on anecdotal evidence that women may get their first appointment as an

arbitrator through the appointment of an arbitral institution, I contacted a diverse

group of international arbitral institutions around the world to see if they would be

willing to share data on their appointments of members of the target population.

 

 

Thirty-four individuals ultimately filled out the survey and three of the
international arbitral institutions provided data which will be discussed below.