Originally from American Review of International Arbitration - ARIA

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I. INTRODUCTION

On July 28, 2000, Dr. Guillermo Gamba, of Santa Fe De Bogota, Colombia, the sole arbitrator appointed by the ICC International Court of Arbitration in the case of Andersen Consulting against Arthur Andersen and Andersen Worldwide, rendered his final award. It was generally known that this matter was being adjudicated in arbitration, because Andersen Consulting, the Claimant, had publicly announced its having initiated the arbitration, and it readily became known that billions of dollars were involved. The award has now been published on the Internet, and the true dimensions of the case have been disclosed.

Of course, the adjudication of a claim that appears to have exceeded fourteen billion dollars naturally attracted the attention of the international arbitration community. In addition, as it now appears, the dispute involved issues of significant interest to all involved in international arbitration. We therefore reproduce the award in its entirety in this issue, along with the decision of the Swiss Supreme Court in December 1999 confirming the arbitrator’s jurisdiction.

When the first fast-track arbitration under the auspices of the ICC International Court of Arbitration was decided, the Review asked the arbitrators and counsel for the parties to provide their comments and all of them did so. We have addressed the same request to the arbitrator and counsel in this matter. Only Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett has responded affirmatively. Its comments are reproduced below.