How “International” Is International Arbitration? - WAMR 2016 Vol. 10, No. 1

Author(s):

Caline Mouawad

Page Count:

31 pages

Published:

April, 2016

Jurisdictions:

International

Practice Areas:

Arbitral Adjudication,

International Character of Dispute,

Dispute Resolution & Litigation,

International Litigation

Author Detail:

Caline Mouawad is a partner in the International Arbitration Group of King & Spalding LLP, residing in its New York office. The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the firm.

Ms. Mouawad concentrates her practice on international arbitration. Her experience includes arbitrations involving claims and disputes in Europe, the CIS, Latin America, North Africa, and the Middle East relating to public and private international law issues, bilateral investment treaties, breach of contract, financial transactions, and privatization agreements. Ms. Mouawad is involved in complex arbitrations in a variety of sectors including oil and gas, energy, telecommunications, and mining. She has represented clients in cases before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and the International Commercial Arbitration Court of the Russian Chamber of Commerce (ICAC), as well as in ad hoc cases under the UNCITRAL Rules. In addition to serving as counsel, she serves as an arbitrator and is listed on the Panel of Neutrals for the International Centre for Dispute Resolution.

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Originally From World Arbitration and Mediation Review (WAMR)

I. INTRODUCTION

Around 28 years ago, my family and I moved from Paris, France to a northern suburb of Houston, Texas. At that time, hummus and pita breach were not yet American staples, and Texas was not known for its cultural diversity. I was in the sixth grade and did not speak a word of English, and when I finally learned to communicate in English that I was originally from Lebanon, none of my classmates knew where the country was located – they had never known someone from there. In fact, my new classmates thought that I meant that I moved there from the Texas namesake for the French capital: Paris, Texas.

Today, Houston is a very different place from when I first arrived. In 2012, a joint study by research centers at Rice University reported that the greater Houston, Texas metropolitan area had surpassed those of New York and Los Angeles in diversity, and become one of the most ethnically diverse metropolitan areas in the United States. Houston is also a hub for energy multinationals and their international workforces, and in addition to being home to the second highest concentration of Fortune 500 company headquarters in the US, it serves as a gateway for American companies to Latin America and the Middle East.