The professional home of Dispute Resolution
- in North America and Worldwide

The North American Branch (NAB) was a co-sponsor of a conference Foro de Arbitraje 2011, "Arbitration and the Recovery of Damages and Loss of Income - the Mexican Legal Regime and International Practice," held in Mexico City on September 2, 2011 and organized by NAB member Herfried Wöss Speakers included members Mark Kantor, Derrick Carson, and Herfried Wöss. Ann Ryan Robertson was one of the conference moderators. The conference was preceded by a dinner of the Mexico Chapter. The NAB was delighted to be a sponsor of this intellectually stimulating and informative conference. The conference combined civil and common law perspectives resulting in especially spirited discussions. Mexico is an important component of the NAB of the CIArb and this conference served as a reminder of Mexico's vibrant arbitration tradition.

Acclaimed arbitrator Gary Born will act as keynote speaker at a symposium co-sponsored by the NAB and organized by NAB Executive Committee member Professor S.I. Strong. The symposium, entitled "Border Skirmishes: The Intersection Between Litigation and International Commercial Arbitration," will take place at the award-winning Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution at the University of Missouri School of Law on October 21, 2011. Associated events include a works-in-progress conference where authors discuss their current research with other specialists and a student writing competition sponsored by the CIArb North American Branch. The registration fee for the symposium, including an "early bird" session concerning the new ICC Rules of Arbitration, is only $50, and registration is available online. For more information on all events, go to (http://www.law.missouri.edu/csdr/symposium/2011/). The event is also co-sponsored by the American Society of International Law (ASIL), the ABA Section of International Law and Transnational Dispute Management (TDM).

The NAB is offering two training programs this year. The first training program will be held in Montreal, Canada, on October 21-23, 2011. The second training program will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 18-20, 2011. The Accelerated Route to Member Program and the Accelerated Route to Fellowship Program will be offered in both cities. The NAB has assembled an outstanding faculty of international tutors for both programs. For more information and the application form please click on the links below.

Montreal (already closed, with 40 attendees): http://www.yavistech.com/CIARB/montreal-workshops.pdf
Las Vegas (still open, though filling fast): http://www.yavistech.com/CIARB/brochure-workshops.pdf

Finally, the election process for Trustee is underway in North America, with Harry Arkin of Denver and Peter Michaelson of New York running for a single seat on the board of trustees. The winner will be seated in early November, 2011.  We wish both candidates the very best of luck!

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New York

On October 6, 2011, the CIArb New York Chapter presented a program at the Fordham University School of Law entitled the "Judges' Program." This program featured three leading retired American jurists: Hon. Judith Kaye (former Chief Justice, New York State Court of Appeals), Hon. William Webster (former Director, Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation; former Judge for the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri) and Hon. William Bassler (former U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey). In an interactive panel discussion, these jurists discussed their transition from the bench into arbitration, shared their experiences as to how they managed the transition and became successful arbitrators and offered their perspectives as to how their experience on the bench influenced their role as arbitrators. The program co-sponsors included the Fordham University School of Law, the CIArb North American Branch, the ICDR/AAA, the ICC, the CPR Institute and the American Bar Association Section of International Law. The program proved very educational and enjoyable, and provided its attendees with fascinating and invaluable insights.

Southeast

The formation process is underway for the Atlanta International Arbitration Society ("ATLAS"), a non-profit organization that seeks to promote Atlanta as the destination of choice in the Americas for resolving international business differences. Made up of practitioners, corporate counsel, judges, law professors, and neutrals, the ATLAS works closely with Atlanta civic leaders and government officials to make resolution of international disputes in Atlanta as easy, efficient and cost-effective as possible. The ATLAS also seeks to promote the use of arbitration as a means of resolving international disputes by hosting arbitration-related conferences and by educating members on the latest developments in international arbitral law.  A number of Southeastern Chapter CIArb members and Fellows are actively involved in this process, including Chris Soffe, Richard Sheinis and Philip W. "Whit" Engle.

Washington DC

The D.C. Chapter and CPR Institute jointly sponsored a program on October 18, 2011, at Morgan Lewis in Washington, D.C., on the construction of international energy projects and ADR. Two panels of excellent speakers from various regions of the United States talked about the projects they have been involved in and their views about the use of ADR. Affiliated sponsors were the Dispute Review Board Foundation and the International Dispute Resolution Committee of the D.C. Bar International Arbitration Section.

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Alan M. Anderson, FCIArb, published an article entitled "International Arbitration and the Globalization of Minnesota Business" in the May/June 2011 issue of Bench & Bar of Minnesota, the state-wide publication of the Minnesota State Bar Association.  The article was the featured cover article for the issue.  The article has been republished in the June/July issue of the Midwest Global Trade Association's World Trader.  In addition, Alan has been named a fellow of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration and has been named to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center's List of Arbitrators for intellectual property disputes.

Mark Baker, FCIArb, spoke on "§1782 and Discovery in International Proceedings," at the Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR), North American Meeting in the British Virgin Islands, April 2011. Mark also acted as moderator of the presentation entitled, "The Dispute-Wise Study: A New Paradigm in Partnering of Corporate and Outside Counsel in Resolving International Commercial Disputes" at the 9th Annual Miami International Arbitration Conference on September 14-16, 2011. He also spoke at the Sixth Annual ICC New York Conference on "The New ICC Rules of Arbitration" on September 19-20, 2011.

Derrick Carson, FCIArb, spoke at Foro de Arbitraje 2011 in Mexico City on September 2, 2011, on "Advocacy in Damage Claims. His presentation included advocacy techniques in presenting damages evidence in international arbitration and the necessity of including damages in a cohesive theory of the case. Derrick also discussed practical aspects of preparing experts for hearing and techniques for persuasive presentation of damages evidence.

Kyle Dickson-Smith published two short articles, "US and Canadian Supreme Courts Rule on the Enforceability of Consumer Arbitration Clauses" and "Chevron- Lago Agrio Litigation Update."

Gerry Ghikas, FCIArb, was a speaker on the topic, "North American Developments in International Dispute Resolution" at the AAA/ICDR conference in Dallas, Texas, October 6-7, 2011, "Regaining Speed & Economy in Dispute Resolution."

Lucy Greenwood, FCIArb, published "A Window of Opportunity? Building a Short Period of Time into Arbitral Rules in Order for Parties to Explore Settlement," in volume 27 of Arbitration International, "Does Bifurcation Really Promote Efficiency?" in volume 82 of the Journal of International Arbitration, and "Recent Developments in the Enforcement of International Arbitration Awards in England & Wales," in volume 4 of the World Arbitration & Mediation Review. Lucy was also the head of the judging committee for the student writing competition sponsored by the NAB in association with the Border Skirmishes symposium at the University of Missouri.

David Harrell, FCIArb, spoke in Panama at the annual meeting of the International Section of the New York Bar Association on September 21-24, 2011. David participated in a panel entitled "Cross Border Litigation and Arbitration in Connection with Defaulted Sovereign Debt: the Argentine Case and What it Means Today."

Joe McArthur, FCIArb, is moderating a panel discussion with Gerry Ghikas, FCIArb, and Murray Smith, FCIArb, on "Effectively Managing Commercial Arbitrations" at the ADR Institute of Canada's annual conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, on October 28, 2011.

Kevin O'Gorman, MCIArb, was elected to serve as Council Member and Chair of the Disputes Division of the 20,000-member ABA Section of International Law as of August 1, 2011. The Disputes Division includes a number of committees, including the International Arbitration Committee, the International Litigation Committee and the International Courts Committee. Kevin was also named Senior Advisor to the International Arbitration Committee and Liaison to the American Arbitration Association. In February, Kevin spoke on "Ethical Pitfalls in International Practice" at the State Bar of Texas International Law Section 23rd Annual Institute in Houston, Texas, and spoke on "Arbitrator Ethics, Disclosure and Challenges" at the ABA Section of International Law Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., in April.

Ann Ryan Robertson, FCIArb, spoke, in June of 2011, at the Western Canadian Arbitration Roundtable on "Arbitration Highlights from the U.S. of Eh?" and at the Texas State Bar Annual meeting on "Effective Dispute Resolution - Options that Work." She was moderator at the Foro de Arbitraje 2011, moderating the presentation on "Advocacy in Damages Claims." Ann was a panel member at the 9th Annual Miami International Arbitration Conference on September 14-16, 2011, discussing the ICDR's recently issued "Dispute-Wise Study." Ann was a speaker and moderator of the presentation "North American Developments in International Dispute Resolution" at the AAA/ICDR conference in Dallas, Texas, October 6-7, 2011, "Regaining Speed & Economy in Dispute Resolution."

Aníbal Sabater, FCIArb, published "The Influence of Investment on Commercial Arbitration: Should the Small Fish Eat the Big One?" in volume 25 of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration - News and Notes, and "La Prueba en el Sistema Anglosajón" (Evidence in the Common Law System) in volume 4 of La Ley, published by Kluwer. Aníbal was also a panelist discussing "The 10 Most Important Things In-House Counsel Need to Know about Arbitration Planning" at the Global Markets Symposium at the Southwestern Institute for International and Comparative Law in Dallas, Texas, in June. He spoke on "How to Prepare for an Investment Arbitration" at the Club de la Unión in Quito, Ecuador, in February and on "How Oil and Gas Disputes Have Shaped Modern International Arbitration" at the UCL School of Energy and Resources in Adelaide, Australia, in June. He was also a panelist discussing "Local v. International Arbitration" at the ICC YAF conference in Quito, Ecuador, in February. Aníbal was also recently identified as one of Global Arbitration Review's "45 under 45".

Harrie Samaras, FCIArb, edited and is an author of the book, ADR Advocacy, Strategies, and Practice for Intellectual Property Cases. The book underscores the importance of attorneys having, as core competencies, knowledge and skills in dispute resolution for representing clients in ADR processes, negotiating pre-dispute resolution clauses and counseling clients about ADR. The authors, which include judges, neutrals and corporate counsel, teach effective practices, strategies and advocacy in using ADR in IP cases. The book is published by the Intellectual Property Law Section of the American Bar Association.

Prof. S.I. Strong, FCIArb, spoke recently at the Congreso Internacional de Derecho Procesal in Cartagena, Colombia, and a judicial conference entitled "Arbitration: Justice in the Making?" organized by the Chambre de Conciliation et d'Arbitrage de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées in Toulouse, France. Stacie also taught a seminar on international commercial arbitration and transnational litigation at the University of Medellín in Colombia and made presentations to the Deutsche-Amerikanische Juristen-Vereinigung (German-American Lawyers Association) at the University of Passau and the University of Frankfurt in Germany over the summer. On October 11-13, she presented "Agency and Distribution Issues in International Commercial Arbitration" at the ICSID/ICC/ICDR conference at American University Washington College of Law in the United States. Stacie recently completed a visiting fellowship at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge, England, and was the recipient of the 13th Annual Missouri Lawyers Weekly Legal Scholar Award.

Edna Sussman, FCIArb, published several articles this year, including "Reflections on the Use of Dispositive Motions in Arbitration" in the New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer, "Time and Costs Solutions for Commercial Arbitration" in the Dispute Resolution Journal, "A Multilateral Energy Sector Investment Treaty: Is it Time for a Call for Adoption by all Nations" in the International Lawyer and "The Advantages of Mediation and the Special Challenges to its Utilization in Investor State Disputes" in Revista Brasileira de Arbitragem. Her article on "All's Fair in Love and War: or is it?: An International Code of Ethics for Counsel in Arbitration" is forthcoming in the American Review of International Arbitration. She is speaking this fall at the College of Commercial Arbitrators' annual meeting, delivering a talk on "Social Media and Implications for Arbitrators," and at the American Bar Association International Section's fall meeting in Dublin delivering an "Update on U.S. Arbitration Law."

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