Events

Upcoming Events
 

2024: Columbia-CIArb NY Branch Comprehensive Course on International Arbitration

Date/Time: September 9-12, 2024  –  9:30 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. (EDT/GMT-4)
Location: Hogan Lovells, 390 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10017
Information
Registration
Download 2024 Brochure

A systematic and comprehensive examination of the law and practice of international arbitration.

• The Course features a renowned faculty offering lectures with interactive opportunities plus a number of simulations and is designed for arbitrators, advocates, in-house counsel, acdemics, and others interested in international arbitration.

• Upon completion, all attendees will receive a certificate of completion from Columbia Law School and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators New York Branch. Application for CLE credit for New York State is pending.

• An opening reception for registrants, faculty and invited guests including CIArbNY Branch Members is expected to take place at the end of the first day. A faculty/registrant dinner will be held at the end of the second day.

• Course fee includes electronic course materials, breakfasts and lunches each day as well as the opening reception.  Attendees are responsible for their own travel, lodging and related expenses, and any meals not specified in this brochure.

• Registrants must comply with any health and safety measures of the host venue, and/or as the organizers may deem appropriate in their discretion for the safety and wellbeing of faculty and participants. Registrants assume the risk that applicable health and safety measures may change following registration.

• Registrants assume the risk that technical difficulties may arise from time to time that notwithstanding the organizers’ reasonable efforts may impair participation.
   

Proskauer Lecture on International Arbitration - "Back to the Future of Ethics in International Arbitration in New York: With the Court or Arbitrators?"

Location: Proskauer Office, Eleven Times Square (41st Street and 8th Avenue)
27th Floor New York, NY 10036
Date/Time: Tuesday, April 30, 2024
6:00 - 6:30 p.m.: Registration and Networking
6:30 - 7:30 p.m.: Lecture
Cocktail reception immediately following

RSVP/Registration

This year’s speaker is Julie Bédard, partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, who is a renowned International Arbitration practitioner and arbitrator and is also a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration.

CLE:

Proskauer has been certified by the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board and the State Bar of California as an Accredited Provider of continuing legal education.

This transitional, participatory continuing legal education course has been approved for newly admitted and experienced attorneys for a maximum of 1.0 credit hour in the following categories:

New York: Professional Practice
California: General MCLE

Please note: CLE programs require attendees to participate via web link, not only audio dial in. Verification prompts appear on screen to confirm participation.

Columbia Arbitration Day 2024

Date/Time: Friday, March 1, 2024; 8:30am-8:00pm
Location: Columbia Faculty House, Skyline Room,
64 Morningside Drive, NY, NY 10027
Registration: Tickets available HERE
Information:
[email protected] and https://arbitration-day.law.columbia.edu/

The theme of this year’s Columbia Arbitration Day is International Arbitration and its New Era: a User Guide.

The event will feature panels discussing toolkits to fight due process paranoïa for both counsels and arbitrators, concerns and needs for State representation (from government officials exclusively), tips on how to manage a construction arbitration efficiently, and how AI can concretely assist arbitral proceedings.

Additionally, we are especially excited to host Honorable Bridget McCormack for a thrilling fireside chat. Honorable McCormack served as the Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court and is currently the President and CEO of the American Arbitration Association - International Center of Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR).

Program

8:30 AM: Doors Open

9:00 AM Panel 1:  Effective management of evidence in Construction Arbitration: The Perspective from an Arbitrator, Counsel and Expert.

Construction/Engineering and Energy Arbitration proceedings historically generate the largest number of ICC cases. The trend was confirmed in 2020 with 194 (construction/engineering arbitration proceedings) and 167 (energy arbitration proceedings), accounting for approximately 38% of all cases. These types of arbitration proceedings involve multiple technical issues, which are complemented with technical expert reports and thousands of technical documents.  

This panel aims to identify an effective management toolkit for these types of arbitration proceedings from the perspective of an Arbitrator, a Counsel, and an Expert. From a practical point of view, the speakers will explain what are the tools and techniques used to present a multiplicity of claims in an effective manner, identify which are the relevant documents that must be presented in this kind of arbitration proceedings, and discuss how efficient are tests and site visits.

10:15 AM - 10:45 AM: Coffee break

10:45 AM Panel 2: Why AI in arbitration?

This panel will canvass different perspectives on AI in international arbitration. After the opening remarks of AI experts, who will decode the mechanics of AI functioning, the panelists will discuss the use of AI in international arbitration. Panelists are selected among practitioners, deciders, and business actors.

The experts will delve into some of the questions that remain unanswered–what does AI bring to the international arbitration sphere? What are international arbitration practitioners’ expectations with regard to it? Should counsel and arbitrators play a larger role in the development of AI software targeted at international arbitration? How can the international arbitration community curb the risks it entails?–, while touching upon some of the ethical quandaries raised by AI along the way.

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM Lunch Break

1:30 PM - 2:45 PM Panel 3: Procedural Toolkit for Efficient and Cost-Effective Arbitration.

This panel will consider a recurring issue in arbitration proceedings: inefficient conduct (e.g., delaying tactics, overly litigious and uncooperative approaches, and submission of colossal amounts of documents) that increasingly frustrate the expectation of cost-efficient proceedings.

The panelists will explore the procedural techniques that parties and tribunals can employ to make arbitration smoother with the aim of reducing costs and duration. The purpose is to increase client satisfaction, make arbitration accessible to entities that otherwise could not afford it (e.g., SMEs), and open it up to smaller claims that might not otherwise be brought.

2:45 - 3:15 Coffee Break

3:15 PM - 4:00 PM: Hon. Bridget McCormack Address

4:00 PM - 4:15 PM: Coffee Break

4:15 PM - 5:30 PM Panel 4: ISDS and the new emerging economies: where we stand and where next.

More than 80 years after the rise of ISDS and considering the almost 10-year ongoing debate around its reform, this panel will be aimed at giving a voice to the very new emerging economies on the matter.

Its purpose will be to understand whether and how the new emerging economies are willing to engage with the ISDS and its reform and how they feel about the backlash against investment arbitration that many other countries advocate for. The panel will be composed of government representatives only. It will be a perfect forum for them to share their experiences and insights involving ISDS and discuss together what they foresee for the future and where they hope ISDS will go next.

5:30 PM - 5:45 PM : Closing remarks by Prof. George Bermann

5:45 PM - 8:00 PM: Reception

UNCITRAL Working Group II: Adapting Arbitration to the Challenges of the Present

Date/Time: Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024; 7:15pm-8:15pm
Location: Columbia Law School, Room 105, Jerome Greene Hall, 435 W. 116th St, NY, NY 10027
Registration and Information: 
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16Rv6dodNP5rytT2556BC0H_YjpXoVryn7vsqIxP0vZw/viewform?edit_requested=true&pli=1

In this session, we will explore how UNCITRAL Working Group II is updating arbitration practices to meet the needs of today's modern industries and increasingly complex cases. Join us for a lively discussion with Andres Jana, Vice President of the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce and Chair of Working Group II, along with Columbia professors George A. Bermann and Kabir Duggal. Snacks will be served.
* We would appreciate your full participation. If you find it necessary to leave before the event ends, we kindly request you to take a seat towards the back and exit quietly. Thank you!

2023: "Arbitration 2 Worlds"

Date/Time: Friday, November 10th, 2023 - 1:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Location: Jerome Greene Annex, 410 W. 117 St., New York, NY 10027 Event Space, First Floor
Information: [email protected] 

Arbitration 2 Worlds is joint effort between Columbia Law School and NYU Law School. Day 2 will be held at Columbia Law School, and will feature: Welcome remarks by Carlos Alberto Carmona; Opening remarks by George A. Bermann; a first panel on "M&A and International Arbitration - Trending Topics" with Matthew Draper, Rafael Alves, Ari Mackinnon, Ina Popova, and moderator Lidia Rezende; a second panel on "Arbitration and de Judiciary -- Friend or Foe?" with Michael Carlinsky, Caetano Berenguer, Isabela Lacreta, Kabir Duggal, Jose Alexandre Tavares Guerreiro and moderator Gustavo Vaughn; a Q&A panel on "The Use of Artificial Inteligence in International Arbitration" with Carlos Alberto Carmona and Carolyn Lamm; and Closing remarks by Franco Ferrari.

“Establishing an Advisory Centre on International Investment Law”

Date/Time: Thursday, April 13, 2023, from 12:10-1:10PM EST.
Location: Columbia Law School, Feldberg Lounge, William and June Warren
Hall, Rm. 105, 1125 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025
Register HERE
Information: [email protected]

We cordially invite you to attend a hybrid meeting: “ColumbiaArbitration Day Presents: Establishing an Advisory Centre onInternational Investment Law”, co-organised by the Center forInternational Commercial and Investment Arbitration, the ColumbiaArbitration Day Committee and UNCITRAL. The event is convened inconnection with the Columbia Arbitration Day and will be conducted inEnglish.The event is free of charge. But to attend it in person or to receive the online meeting-link details, please register here. Please note that, to avoid any difficulties, only participants who register will be able to attend in person or remotely.

Columbia Arbitration Day 2023

Date/Time: Friday, April 14, 2023, from 9AM - 8PM EST.
Location: Low Memorial Library, 2960 Broadway New York, NY 10027
Register Columbia Arbitration Day Tickets
Information: [email protected] or visit https://arbitration-day.law.columbia.edu/

Columbia Arbitration Day is the largest annual event by the Columbia International Arbitration Association, the only student association at Columbia Law School focusing exclusively on international arbitration. After two virtual editions, Columbia Arbitration Day will return to an in-person format on Friday, April 14, 2023. Tickets are available at Columbia Arbitration Day Tickets. 

The theme of this year’s Columbia Arbitration Day is Arbitration Beyond the Box: New Innovations & Perspectives. The event will feature panels discussing ESG arbitration, Belt-and-Road disputes, and domestic judges on international arbitration. Additionally, CAD 2023 will feature a keynote conversation with Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the Supreme Court's arbitration legacy and a discussion between Meg Kinnear (Secretary-General of ICSID) and Anna Joubin-Bret (Secretary of UNCITRAL) about institutional innovations in international arbitration.

Program

Keynote conversation: The Supreme Court's Arbitration Legacy

• Panelists: George Bermann (Columbia Law School) and Justice Stephen Breyer (Supreme Court of the United States) 
• Topic: George Bermann and Justice Breyer will discuss Breyer’s and the Supreme Court of the United States's arbitration legacy. One of the topics for discussion shall be what it means to be “pro-arbitration.”

Fireside chat: Innovating Investor-State Dispute Settlement

• Panelists:  Meg Kinnear (ICSID), Anna Joubin-Bret (UNCITRAL) and Kabir Duggal (Arnold & Porter and Columbia Law School).
• Topic: Kabir Duggal discusses recent rule revisions with Meg Kinnear and Anna Joubin-Bret. Notably, the new ICSID Rules, the Code of Conduct for Adjudicators, and ongoing discussions will be highlighted.

Panel 1: Domestic judges and international arbitration

• Panelists: Lee Rosenthal (US District Court, Southern District of Texas), Shira Scheindlin (US District Court, Southern District of NY and Arbitrator), Bridget McCormack (AAA-ICDR), Georg Kodek (Austrian Supreme Court)
• Moderator: Alejandro Garro (Columbia Law School)
• Topic: This panel will focus on  the role of the judiciary at key phases of an  international arbitration. All the panelists are serving or have served as judges in their respective jurisdictions (U.S., U.K., and Austria). They will reflect on their experiences with arbitration-related issues. Special attention will be given to anti-suit injunctions, enforcement and set-aside proceedings, as well as interim measures.

Panel 2: Navigating Belt-and-Road Disputes

• Panelists: Ank Santens (White & Case), Yasmine Lahlou (Chaffetz Lindsey), Jingzhou Tao (Dechert), Simon Navarro (Sidley Austin), Lianjun Li (Reed Smith)
• Moderator: Robert Smit (Columbia Law School and Arbitrator)
• Topic: The Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI) is a very ambitious global infrastructure program, covering hundreds of billions of dollars in investments. ICC has created the Belt and Road Commission to focus on dispute resolution needs arising from BRI. New arbitration centers including the China-Africa Joint Arbitration Centres have been established to resolve BRI-related disputes. Additionally, China positions two International Commercial Courts (CICC) as a one-stop shop for BRI disputes. This panel will discuss how international arbitration works to resolve BRI disputes, how different jurisdictions and arbitration institutions facilitate BRI dispute resolution, and are these alternatives to the established arbitration centers or rules preferable.

Panel 3: Practicing ESG Arbitration 

• Panelists: Tafadzwa Pasipanodya (Foley Hoag), Mélida Hodgson (Arnold & Porter), Guled Yusuf (Allen & Overy) and Amal Bouchnaki (Herbert Smith Freehills)
• Moderator: Rahim Moloo (Gibson Dunn)
• Topic: This panel will present the practitioners' perspective on ESG innovations. Specifically, how can States successfully adopt ESG regulations without exposing themselves to ISDS proceedings on the one hand, and how can investors protect themselves from ESG-related political and regulatory risk.

Schedule 

9:00-10:30 – Panel 1: Domestic Judges on International Arbitration
10:30-10:45 – Coffee Break
10:45-12:15 – Panel 2: Navigating Belt-and-Road Disputes
12:15-1:30 – Buffet Lunch
1:30-3:00 – Panel 3: Arbitrating ESG Disputes
3:00-3:15 – Coffee Break
3:15-4:30 – The Supreme Court’s Arbitration Legacy (this is the conversation between Justice Breyer and Prof. Bermann)
4:30-5:45 – Innovating ISDS
5:45-7:00 – Formal Dinner
7:00-8:00 – Networking Reception

Navigating Third Party Funding in International Arbitration: Benefits, Implications and the Future - CIAA

Date/Time: Thursday, March 23, 2023, from 5PM - 9PM EST.
Location: Columbia Law School Case Lounge 7th Floor (Room 701)
Register: Columbia Law School students and faculty can RSVP here: https://t.ly/Fupc. 
External guests can RSVP here: https://t.ly/EVUo.
Information: [email protected] or visit CIAA LinkedIn

Join us this Thursday at Columbia for ‘Navigating Third Party Funding in International Arbitration: Benefits, Implications and the Future’ March 23, 2023. Don't miss out on this flagship event of the Columbia International Arbitration Association (CIAA)!

*CLE credits are available.*

Please kindly note that RSVP is required by 3PM on Thursday, March 23rd:
 Columbia Law School students and faculty can RSVP here: https://t.ly/Fupc. 
 External guests can RSVP here: https://t.ly/EVUo.

The first segment of the event will feature one panel of experts from funding companies and law firms, who will discuss third-party funding in international arbitration including its benefits, implications and the future. This panel will feature Jeff Newton (Investment Manager and Legal Counsel, Omni Bridgeway), Corey Banks (Investment Manager, Therium Capital Management), Miriam Harwood  (Partner and co-head of the Investment Arbitration Practice, Squire Patton Boggs), and James Berger (Partner, DLA Piper). The panel discussion will be moderated by Arshiya Sharda (LL.M. Candidate at Columbia Law School, Class of 2023).

The second segment of the event is a mock-hearing on a case study that resembles an interim application in an investment arbitration dispute and relates to the existence of a third-party funder. The mock-hearing will feature an exchange of arguments between Ari MacKinnon, MCIArb. (Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP) on behalf of the Respondent/Applicant and Jessica Beess und Chrostin (Partner, King & Spalding) on behalf of the Claimant/Non-Applicant. The arguments would be presented before our very own Prof. George A. Bermann (Independent Arbitrator & Gellhorn Professor of Law and Monnet Professor in EU Law) as a sole-arbitrator. Pranav Kamnani

The event will conclude with a reception. We are grateful to our lead sponsor Omni Bridgeway and in-kind sponsor Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP for supporting this event. This event is enabled by our institutional co-hosts Center for International Commercial & Investment Arbitration and The American Review of International Arbitration at Columbia Law School.

* Under New York State CLE regulations, this traditional live classroom for transitional and non-transitional CLE Program will provide 1 hours of New York CLE credit in the Areas of Professional Practice category and 1 hour of New York CLE credit in the Skills category.

A link to the event's details is also available here.

2022: "The Seat of International Arbitration: Where to Go and Why?"

This will be a debate between Professor George Bermann, Gellhorn Professor of Law and Monnet Professor in European Law at Columbia Law School, and Professor Peter Sester, a dual qualified lawyer in Brazil and Germany who sits as an arbitrator in international arbitration, besides being a lecturer of International Arbitration at FGV-Rio. 

Date: April 27, 2022
Time: 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Location: JG Case Lounge (7th floor) and via Zoom
Or, go to https://zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID: 961 0242 9556 and password: columbia27
There is no need to register in advance.
Information: [email protected]

Speakers' Biographies:
Professor George A. Bermann. The director of the Center for International Commercial & Investment Arbitration at Columbia Law School, George A. Bermann LL.M. ’75 is a world-renowned authority on comparative law, EU law, international trade contracts, WTO dispute resolution, and transnational litigation and arbitration. For more than four decades, he has been an active international arbitrator in commercial and investment disputes in all sectors, including general commercial contract, construction, intellectual property, energy, oil and gas, competition law, insurance, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, distributorship and franchising, transportation, and employment. He also serves regularly as an expert witness before international arbitral tribunals as well as before courts in arbitral-related cases. Bermann joined the Columbia Law School faculty in 1975. He founded both the Columbia Journal of European Law and the European Legal Studies Center, where he serves as the director. In addition to teaching full-time at the Law School, he is an affiliated faculty member of the School of Law of Sciences Po in Paris and the MIDS Masters Program in International Dispute Settlement in Geneva. Bermann was the chief reporter for the American Law Institute (ALI) for its Restatement of the Law, The U.S. Law of International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration, a 12-year project that was completed in 2019; it was the first ALI Restatement on this area of the law. Bermann is also co-author of the UNCITRAL Guide to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, chair of the Global Advisory Board of the New York International Arbitration Center (NYIAC), co-editor in chief of the American Review of International Arbitration, and founding member of the governing body of the ICC Court of Arbitration and a member of its standing committee.

Professor Peter C. Sester. He is a dual-qualified lawyer in Brazil and Germany who sits as an arbitrator and acts as a legal expert in arbitration. He holds two doctorate degrees in law, one in Commercial Law, the other in Economics as well as a German Habilitation in International Business Law. Peter has served as a tenured Professor of Commercial Law at several German and Swiss universities. He practiced Commercial Law for 14 years at the Frankfurt office (finance practice group) of a leading international law firm, during which time, he developed in-depth interdisciplinary and cross-cultural expertise that was highly esteemed by clients and peers. He combines practical skills with academic depth and economic know-how. Peter originally focused on Corporate Finance, Capital Markets, Asset and Project Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Leveraged Buyouts. In 2017, he founded his own arbitration and consultant practice in Rio de Janeiro. From 2019 to 2021, he was Vice-President of the CAM-CCBC (São Paulo). The leading Brazilian arbitration institution. Since 2019 he has been a member of the Arbitration Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB). He continues to teach at renowned universities in Europe and Brazil and is a professor at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro. Currently, Peter acts mainly as an arbitrator, co-counsel, and expert witness in international and domestic arbitrations. Peter has authored eight books and edited five, published over 120 articles in law journals and anthologies. He is the sole author of the book Business and Investment in Brazil: Law and Practice (Oxford University Press 2022) and the sole editor and main author of International Arbitration: Law and Practice in Brazil (Oxford University Press 2020). In 2002, Peter was appointed to a full professorship in Commercial Law in Germany. Further appointments in Switzerland and Germany soon followed, including at Goethe-University, Frankfurt am Main where he also served as Director of the Institute for Law and Finance. Since 2019, he has been a Professor of International Arbitration at FGV-Rio and a member of its Centre for Commercial and Arbitration Law.

New Talk Series: "Principled and Coherent? Arbitral Approaches to the Concept of Abuse of Process and the Rules of Attribution in International Law."

CIAA's talk series, "Principled and Coherent? Arbitral Approaches to the Concept of Abuse of Process and the Rules of Attribution in International Law," has been changed to become a single talk.

In conjunction with the Center for International Commercial & Investment Arbitration, CIAA is launching a new talk series titled: "Principled and Coherent? Arbitral Approaches to the Concept of Abuse of Process and the Rules of Attribution in International Law." This series will feature Gaëtan Verhoosel, who is a founding partner of Three Crowns, based in London. Professor George Bermann, Gellhorn Professor of Law and Monnet Professor in European Law at Columbia Law School and Director of the Center for International Commercial & Investment Arbitration, will moderate the series. 

Speaker Biography: 
Gaëtan Verhoosel QC is a founding partner of Three Crowns, based in London. He has served as advocate and arbitrator in a large number of both commercial and investment treaty arbitrations. Gaëtan is a past Senior Co-Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the International Bar Association, a member of the SIAC Court of Arbitration, one of Belgium’s appointees to the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, and a visiting lecturer at King’s College School of Law. Before entering private practice, he served as a legal advisor at the World Trade Organization in Geneva. Gaëtan is admitted to practice in England & Wales, France and Spain. He was educated at Columbia Law School, the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and the Catholic University of Leuven.

Investment Treaty Arbitration and Abuse of Process: Testing the Arguments

Date/Time: Friday, April 15, 2022, from 12PM-1PM EST.
Location: Attend via Zoom
Or In-person in WJW L107
Register here.
Information: [email protected]
 

Columbia Arbitration Day - "Rethinking International Arbitration: Towards Transformation and Reform"

Date/Time: Friday, March 4, 2022, from 9 a.m. - 5:15 p.m., EST.
Location via Zoom: Columbia Law School
Registration: https://www.canalarbitragem.com.br/cad/
Information: https://arbitration-day.law.columbia.edu/content/cad-2022-program

KEYNOTE SPEECH
8:45am to 9:15am
Globalization and How to Maintain International Arbitration’s Legitimacy
Keynote speaker: Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler

FIRST PANEL
9:15am to 10:45am
Is Arbitration Keeping Up with New Ways of Doing Business? The Arbitrators` Perspective
Panelist 1: Sophie Nappert 
Panelist 2: Eduardo Silva Romero (Dechert)
Panelist 3: Charles Brower (Twenty Essex)
Moderator: Prof. Robert Smit (Columbia Law School)

SECOND PANEL
11:00am to 12:30pm
Reforming International Arbitration Through the Use of Artificial Intelligence: What to Expect in the Near Future?
Panelist 1: Abby Cohen Smutny (White & Case)
Panelist 2: Tunde Ogunseitan (Ogunseitan Arbitration)
Panelist 3: Thomas Snider (Al Tamimi & Company)
Moderator: Prof. Rahim Moloo (Gibson Dunn, Columbia Law School)

THIRD PANEL
2:00pm to 3:30pm
New Challenges to Investment Arbitration: Environmental Claims
Panelist 1: Yasmine Lahlou (Chaffetz Lindsey)
Panelist 2: Lorraine de Germiny (LALIVE) – Columbia Law School alumni
Panelist 3: Mathew Draper (Draper & Draper)
Moderator: Prof. Kabir Duggal (Arnold & Porter, Columbia Law School)

FOURTH PANEL
3:45pm to 5:15pm
Investment Treaties and Arbitration: Should We Seek a Different Way to Settle Disputes Between States and Investors?
Panelist 1: Patrick Pearsall (Allen & Overy) – Columbia Law School alumni
Panelist 2: Andrea Bjorklund (McGill University)
Panelist 3: Julie Bédard (Skadden) – Columbia Law School alumni
Panelist 4: Clovis Trevino (Covignton & Burling)
Moderator: Prof. George Bermann (Columbia Law School)