International Arbitration

A week of ADR events in Sao Paolo, Brazil

Monday started with a radio interview highlighting the events of the upcoming Mediation Congress in Sao Paolo. Alexander Palermo Simoes and I were featured on Ana Pretel’s weekly radio show covering interesting legal topics. You can listen to the show here:

From there we paid a visit to The IV Pan American Arbitration Congress, hosted by CAM-CCBC on 23 to 24 October 2017 in Sao Paulo saw close to 500 attendees listen and participate in a broad range of panels dealing the unique problems associated with arbitration in the region. While focusing on Pan-American countries, the event draws global participation and showcases comparisons of practices with an eye toward sharing best practices in international arbitration. CAM_CCBC, under the leadership of Carlos Forbes, as organizer of the event has demonstrated a commitment to improving the quality of arbitration services,
and making Sao, Paolo Brazil, a hub for international arbitration in South America and the region. aFOTO-MARCOS-MESQUITA--45

Immediately following the Pan American Congress, on October 25th, was the first ever International Mediation Congress in Brazil — Congresso Internacional de Mediação Empresarial – GEMEP I CBAr held at AASP – Associação dos Advogados de São Paulo. The organizing committee – Alexandre P. Simões, Claudia Frankel Grosman and Patricia Freitas Fuoco created a sold out event of stellar debates, workshops and networking events that highlighted the growth of mediation in Brazil under the 2015 law.22815150_10155027876923443_5943122743707166741_n

The following days were highlighted by the “VIII Competição Brasileira de Arbitragem e Mediação Empresarial da CAMARB” – a mediation and arbitration competition in partnership with Mackenzie Presbyterian University. Participation by 57 arbitration teams, 18 mediation teams, 80 assessors, 250 arbitrators and approximately 400 listeners resulted in the biggest event of its kind in Latin America! 22886002_1944929519165165_4585326340301035114_n

Here is a link to the CAMARB Competition website: LINK

Here is a link to a newspaper story “Brazil hosts greater arbitration and mediation competition in Latin America” describing the tournament : LINK

Book Review: STRUCTURED NEGOTIATION, A Winning Alternative to Lawsuits, Lainey Feingold, 2016

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Early in her legal career, Lainey Feingold was fired from a law firm. The day before she was scheduled to become a partner, the head of the firm told her she would never become a partner at the firm, stating “You lack grace and equanimity.” Feingold went from hearing those words turn her desired destiny upside down to letting them lead her to towards a career of practicing law with those and many other collaborative practices, detailed in Chapter 16. Her work has formed the basis of a methodology she and her practice colleagues coined “Structured Negotiation.”

In her book, Feingold introduces us to this alternative dispute resolution methodology, defined by one big firm lawyer as mediation without a mediator. The book is neatly organized into Seven Stages, from Stage One: Preparing a Structured Negotiation Case to Stage Seven: Post-Settlement Strategies, over 16 Chapters. It includes Templates and Sample documents, and details of several Stuctured Negotiations that Feingold and her practice colleagues ( primarily Linda Dardarian) handled over the past 20 years.

While many of the examples focus on Feingold’s advocacy for members of the blind community seeking access to ATMs, talking prescription labels, and baseball, the book has broad application to any practitioner who recognizes that certain types of claims, even very large ones, can provide opportunities for many disputants to be better served by the use of this process. While some claims need a Court system and the formal legal process, many do not. As Feingold puts it:

“But filing a complaint should not be the only option for claims resolution. The legal profession – and the public it serves- deserves alternatives that are less costly, less stressful, and more cooperative. Clients need a forum where thier stories matter and they can be ( and feel) heard.”

Whether you believe this or not, you should be aware of this alternative. Many think that those who represent big institutions are reluctant to participate in this out of court process. Yes, this is true. But Feingold has paved the way. She and her colleagues have spent years , patiently, working with many of the largest of these — Bank of America, Walgreens, Target, Safeway, TransUnion, Charles Schwab, others, and even Major League Baseball. And in her work, she provides information on all of these Structured Negotiations, so that you can use her success to contribute to yours.

If you take away nothing from this book, you will no doubt benefit from Chapter 16 which is invaluable. The legal profession is now undergoing a mindset change, where there is a real focus on “soft skills.” These are interpersonal skills, stress management, self confidence, mindfulness, optimism, the ability to convey empathy, and others.

Law students, lawyers young and old, law professors — read the book, but do not put it on the shelf until you have spent some time reading and self – reflecting on the collaborative tools that are discussed in Chapter 16.

You will be better at everything you do, if you can incorporate some of the Structured Negotiation collaborative practices into your life and your life’s work.

Buy the book on iBooks

Questionnaire on Dispute Resolution Clauses from the Transnational Law Center at the University of Ghent
Call for Participation by surveyindividuals who have experience with commercial dispute resolution.in a Questionnaire on Dispute Resolution Clauses from the Transnational Law Center at the University of Ghent
 
There is a lack of clarity regarding the obligations that arise from dispute resolution agreements with a mediation/conciliation component. In order to reduce this uncertainty, a chapter of the BOF funded PhD research of Maryam Salehijam (supervisor: Professor Maud Piers) from the Transnational Law Center at the University of Ghent focuses on the question “What are the parties’ obligation under an ADR agreement?” To answer this question, the research is divided into two stages, the first stage involves a questionnaire that assesses the familiarity of legal professionals –including lawyers and third-party neutrals- in selected jurisdictions with dispute resolution clauses calling for non-binding ADR mechanisms such as mediation/conciliation. Moreover, the questionnaire provides willing participants with the opportunity to copy and paste a model or previously utilized dispute resolution clause. In the second stage, the clauses gathered as well as clauses extracted from other sources will be content coded using the software NVivo in order to determine which obligations tend to be reoccurring in the majority of the clauses under analysis.
 
The questionnaire targets individuals who have experience with commercial dispute resolution. The participation in the short questionnaire will require minimum effort, as most questions only require a simple mouse-click. Please note that the information entered in the survey is kept anonymous unless indicated to the contrary by the participants. Moreover, as the analysis takes place on an aggregated level, the findings will not disclose personally identifiable information. Accordingly, the information provided will only serve scientific purposes.
 
To complete the questionnaire, please click on the following link: http://lawsurv.ugent.be/limesurvey/index.php/678366?lang=en (closing date 29th of April 2017).
 
If you wish to provide the model/previously used dispute resolution clauses without completing the questionnaire, please email Maryam Salehijam at maryam.salehijam@ugent.be
 
Thank you for taking this request into consideration.

Arbitration in India: a pro-arbitration approach?

Excellent video update From Herbert Smith Freehills Dispute Resolution Section, London

Nick Peacock, Head of the India Disputes practice at Herbert Smith Freehills speaks with Moazzam Khan (Co-head International Dispute Resolution Practice at Indian law firm, Nishith Desai Associates) to discuss the current approach taken by the Indian courts towards arbitration.