INTRODUCTION—WHY THIS BOOK, AND FOR WHOM IT IS INTENDED? - Counsel as Client’s First Enemy in Arbitration?
Author(s):
Ugo Draetta
Page Count:
8 pages
Media Description:
1 PDF Download
Published:
June, 2014
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Author Detail:
Ugo Draetta is Professor of International Law at the Catholic University of Milan, Italy. He received his PhD in International Law (1968) and graduated from the Academy of American and International Law, at the International and Comparative Law Center, University of Texas at Dallas (1976). In 2005 he taught courses at The Hague Academy of International Law.
During his professional experience he has held the position of Vice-President and Senior Counsel—International, of General Electric Co., USA (1987-1999). He is a member of the Board of Directors of major Italian companies.
From 2000 he started his independent arbitration practice. He has been involved in about 60 arbitration proceedings (ICC, UNCITRAL, Milan, Vienna, Dubai and Madrid international arbitration chambers, ad hoc arbitrations) as President, sole arbitrator or co-arbitrator. His areas of expertise include international law; lex mercatoria; EU law; antitrust law; conflicts of laws and procedure; intellectual property law; construction
contracts; agreements for the sale of goods; merger and acquisition agreements; shareholders’ and joint venture agreements; R&D agreements; distribution agreements; State contracts; investment projects.
Ugo Draetta is member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law, the Club of Arbitrators of the Milan Arbitration Chamber, the Scientific Committee of the Italian Arbitration Association (AIA), is listed as Arbitrator with the Vienna International Arbitration Center (VIAC) and the Dubai International Arbitration Center (DIAC), is honorary member and member of the General Council of AIGI (Italian Association of Company Counsels) and member of the ICC Working Group on In-House Counsel.
He is co-founder and co-editor of the review “Diritto del Commercio Internazionale” as well as member of the Board of editors of the Revue de droit des affaires internationales/ International Business Law Journal, published by Sweet & Maxwell and Corporate Counsel Advisory Editor of the European International Arbitration Review, published by JurisNet.
He is author of many publications in the fields of arbitration, international law, industrial law, international trade law, EU law, including the book Behind the Scenes in International Arbitration, JurisNet, Huntington, New York, 2011.
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Originally from: Counsel as Client's First Enemy in Arbitration?
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INTRODUCTION—WHY THIS BOOK, AND FOR WHOM IT IS INTENDED?
“We are all honorable men here; we do not
have to give each other assurance, as if we
were lawyers.” Mario Puzo, The Godfather
The title of this book is intentionally provocative and requires a preliminary and fundamental clarification in order to avoid any misunderstanding: this book is not meant to express any general criticism as to the way counsel behaves in international arbitrations.
First of all, I believe that such criticism would be entirely unjustified. Actually, the majority of counsel that I meet in international arbitrations perform their job in a fully professional way, showing a high degree of skill and honesty. It is a real pleasure for an arbitrator to sit with counsel of this kind.
Secondly, I would have no qualification to express such criticism, not acting myself as counsel unless sporadically and, thus, not possessing the skills required for an effective advocacy. Even in my activity as arbitrator, I have made my own share of mistakes, with which I have to cope and from which I am quick to admit that I have constantly to learn, at least in terms of maintaining a degree of humility.
This leads me to stress that this book is not meant to be a treatise on the elusive art of advocacy in international arbitration