I. Introduction

 

This topic can be viewed from many different vantage points. I

shall try to cover the most important: the in-house lawyer facing

arbitration when the company needs to initiate this process or when

arbitration proceedings have been brought against the company; the

trial lawyer asked to face arbitration for the first time on behalf of

one party or the other; the specialist in international law consulted

about arbitration who has had no personal experience in resolving

disputes; the lawyer who is asked to serve as an arbitrator for the first

time; the judge involved in enforcing the arbitration decision who has

to decide on a petition for assistance, the ordering of interim

protective measures, or how to deal with an arbitration agreement;

and finally, the lawyer facing enforcement of an arbitral award,

whether seeking enforcement or resisting it.

 

In the first case, the company attorney usually comes across the

matter of arbitration in negotiating an agreement with an arbitration

clause or in attempting to include such a clause in the agreement. The

first problem is to draft the arbitration clause or to analyze the clause

drafted by the other party.

 

In Mexico, some attorneys start to draft an arbitration clause

without referring to a model clause; they are creative and draft a new
clause in the way they deem most suitable. Some consult the