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April 28, 2010
Updated: The $10 Million Contract: 1 or 3 Arbitrators?
GE's Mike McIlwrath just interviewed Jennifer Kirby, now with Herbert Smith LLP - Paris
So what's the answer for the "small" ones? How many arbitrators do you need to hear and decide a business-to-business cross-border dispute (moderate value and difficulty)? Assume it will be heard in Western Europe or the U.S.
One arbitrator or three?
What do most parties generally prefer? Why do they lean that way? And, even while litigants widely believe that one arbitrator can both cut costs and increase speed, what is the best "default" practice in the abstract?
Should "size"--the overall monetary value of the dispute--always drive the parties' decision of the number of arbitrators used?
Finally, are company executives--those who after all pay the salaries and fees of in-house counsel and outside law firms--likely to see this issue differently than the lawyers they employ?
Set aside 15 minutes and hear interview No. 88 in the CPR Institute's International Dispute Negotiation series. Three days ago, Italy-based Mike McIlwrath, an in-house lawyer with GE Oil & Gas, interviewed Jennifer Kirby, a Paris partner of London's Herbert Smith.
Between 2002 and 2005, Kirby served as Counsel and eventually Deputy Secretary General of the ICC's Court of International Arbitration in Paris, where she supervised or formally evaluated countless cross-border arbitrations, involving parties and professionals from over 100 jurisdictions. The ICC court has been receiving and managing private commercial disputes to final awards since 1923.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at April 28, 2010 11:59 PM
Comments
Okay Dan, it’s a fine-sounding post, but we all know that you posted it because you find Ms. Kirby hot. (So do I, frankly, so thanks for posting.)
Posted by: Ray Ward at May 1, 2010 07:52 PM
Sorry, Ray, for not responding when you first commented. Technical glitches with comment apparatus. Just talked with Dan on the phone before turning in: "Say hi to Ray and remind him that this is still a family blog, mainly."
Posted by: Holden Oliver at May 1, 2010 07:58 PM