Arbitrational Trends -- Winter 2013

In This Issue:

The International Front: Understanding the Unique Features of International Arbitration; The Domestic Front: The Future of Class Arbitration in the United States; and Arbitral Perspectives: An Interview with the Honorable Charles N. Brower and Professor Brigitte Stern

Excerpt from The International Front: Understanding the Unique Features of International Arbitration:

In the August 2012 issue of Quinn Emanuel’s Business Litigation Report, we explained why international commercial arbitration is often the preferred mode of resolving international business disputes. The purpose of this article is to help corporate counsel better understand some of the unique features of international commercial arbitration in order to successfully achieve their business goals in such arbitrations. By international commercial arbitration, we mean any arbitration, venued in the United States or anywhere else in the world, between two or more corporations, governments or individuals from different countries. We are excluding from this analysis investment treaty arbitrations between foreign investors and sovereign states concerning treaty claims, which is the topic of the interview with Judge Charles N. Brower and Professor Brigitte Stern in this issue of Arbitration Trends.

Because arbitral awards are generally confidential, most publications on international commercial arbitration have had to limit their analysis to arbitral rules and court decisions about arbitration. However, just as one could not speak knowledgeably about litigation without reading judgments, one cannot write insightfully about international commercial arbitration without studying awards. This article draws on actual international arbitral awards obtained from public sources, and on the experience of Quinn Emanuel’s attorneys who regularly serve as arbitration practitioners and arbitrators, in order to more fully illustrate some unique aspects of international commercial arbitration, so that corporate counsel can be more prepared when arbitral disputes arise.