New Frontiers in International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration: Definitely “Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile”

We're excited to tell you about our upcoming international  and commercial arbitration webinar, New Frontiers in International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration: Definitely “Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile”! 

This timely webinar program will bring together Canadian experts on international commercial arbitration and investor-state arbitration to discuss similar evolutions and developments in, and common challenges facing, both regimes. We want to focus on current and likely developments that affect or may affect both forms of arbitration, and on developments in one that are likely to impact the other, possibly such as transparency, credibility and acceptability, party satisfaction, party representative conduct, arbitrator conflicts and performance standards, means of reducing time and cost, and the like. Crystal ball gazing can be part of our discussion. 

 

We believe that it will be interesting and original to have a combined look at both forms of arbitration, since they are often examined separately. Despite divergences that have been developing, there may be lessons to be learned for each by discussing both together.

Speakers:

Louise Barrington

Andrea Bjorklund (rapporteur)

Martin Doe

Matthew Kronby

Laurence Marquis

Janet Walker

The Honourable Barry Leon & Professor Charles-Emmanuel Côté (moderators)

Register  : https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/7678c089-366b-4336-a832-46ac7d3ff970

Biographies:

Louise Barrington has been teaching and arbitrating international commercial disputes for over 25 years, in Hong Kong, Europe and North America. She founded and directs the Vis East Moot which was the first virtual competition, and the precursor to many virtual arbitration hearings. She recently judged a virtual moot that pitted a star student team for Claimant against Chat GPT for Respondent. Louise and her colleague Mireze Philippe founded ArbitralWomen, dedicated to supporting and promoting women in dispute resolution. https://www.arbitrationplace.com/

Andrea K. Bjorklund (rapporteur) is a Full Professor and the L. Yves Fortier Chair in International Arbitration and International Commercial Law at McGill University Faculty of Law. She acts as arbitrator and expert in both investment and commercial arbitrations. She has been appointed to the ICSID roster of arbitrators by the Government of Canada, and is on the panel of arbitrators of several leading institutions. She has lectured around the world, on six continents, and in 2022 gave the Freshfields lecture in London. Before entering the academy she was an attorney-adviser on the NAFTA arbitration team in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State. https://www.mcgill.ca/law/profs/bjorklund-andrea

Charles-Emmanuel Côté (moderator) is Full Professor at the Faculty of Law of Université Laval in Quebec City and member of the École supérieure d’études internationales (ESEI), where he teaches Public International Law, International Economic Law and Constitutional Law. He is a member of the board of directors of the Canadian Branch of the International Law Association (ILA), of the Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL), and Vice-President of the Société québécoise de droit international (SQDI). He is a member of the ILA Committee on the Rule of Law and International Investment Law, and a Member of the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Academic Forum collaborating with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on ISDS reform. Professor Côté is a member of NAFTA Chapter 19 and CUSMA Chapter 10 panel roster for Canada, as well as of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) panel roster for Quebec. He is also a member of the arbitrators and trade and sustainable development experts roster for bilateral disputes concerning trade agreements of the European Union. His book on the participation of private persons to the settlement of international economic disputes received an award from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). https://www.fd.ulaval.ca/notre-faculte/repertoire-du-personnel/charles-emmanuel-cote

Martin Doe serves as Deputy Secretary-General and Principal Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, an intergovernmental organization which administers arbitrations and other dispute resolution proceedings involving various combinations of States, State entities, intergovernmental organizations, and private parties. He has worked closely with arbitral tribunals in some of the largest and most complex inter-State, investor-State, and commercial cases administered by the PCA spanning the full breadth of public and private international law as well as the full range of commercial industry sectors. In addition, he assists the PCA Secretary-General in carrying out his roles under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), as well as the diplomatic work of the PCA with its member States and other intergovernmental organizations, in particular in regard to climate change, business and human rights, complex financial disputes, investor-State dispute settlement reform, and the harmonization of arbitration and commercial laws. A member of the Barreau du Québec and New York State Bar, as well as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, he regularly speaks and publishes on international dispute resolution and has lectured at various universities worldwide. He is the author of Arbitrating the Conduct of International Investors (Cambridge University Press, 2018) (with J.D. Amado and J.S. Kern) and formed part of the drafting team that developed the Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration and the PRIME Finance Arbitration Rules.

Matthew Kronby is a partner in the Competition, International Trade and Foreign Investment Group of our Toronto office. He specializes in cross-border compliance and dispute resolution under trade agreements, investment treaties and Canadian law. He was previously Director-General of the Government of Canada’s Trade Law Bureau (from 2009-2012) and was Canada’s chief legal counsel in the negotiation of the CETA with the European Union and various other trade and investment treaty negotiations. Matthew teaches international trade and investment arbitration as an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. https://www.osler.com/en/team/matthew-kronby

The Honourable Barry Leon (moderator) is an independent arbitrator and mediator specializing in commercial disputes. He was Presiding Judge, British Virgin Islands Commercial Court (2015 – 2018). He is a Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ Fellow (FCIArb), International Mediation Institute (IMI) Certified Mediator, and International Academy of Trial Lawyers’ Fellow. In addition to a law degree, he has an MBA. Barry’s accolades include Award for Distinguished Service in Canadian Arbitration, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators’ Canadian Branch; Global Arbitration Review “best prepared arbitrator” award short-list; and CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Diversity in ADR. Barry is a director of ILA Canada. His other professional involvements include as chair or co-chair of ICC Canada Arbitration, Ciarb Caribbean Branch, ITA’s Caribbean Task Force, and Canadian Arbitration Report; and as a member of the BVI Arbitration Group’s Governing Committee, Organizing Committee of Canadian Arbitration Week, International Trust Arbitration Organisation’s Research Council, and North America Sub-Committee of the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations. He is co-executive editor of the Canadian Journal of Commercial Arbitration, and a co-moderator of OGEMID. https://www.arbitrationplace.com/arbitrator/barry-leon

Laurence Marquis is an assistant professor at the Université de Sherbrooke's Faculty of Law, specializing in dispute prevention and resolution. Her research focuses on national and international dispute prevention and resolution, international commercial arbitration, ISDS reform and international trade agreement negotiations. She has over fifteen years' experience in investor-state, international commercial and sports arbitration. She notably worked at Jones Day, the ICC in Paris and the Trade Law Bureau in Ottawa (Foreign Affairs Canada) before becoming professor of law. https://www.usherbrooke.ca/droit/faculte/personnel/corps-professoral/laurence-marquis

Janet is an independent arbitrator with chambers in London in Toronto, London and Sydney. She has served as sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and chair in ad hoc arbitrations and ICC, ICDR, DIAC, HKIAC, KCAB, PCA and SIAC-administered arbitrations in a variety of seats. Her matters include construction and M&A and many other kinds of disputes in seats around the world. Janet is a Distinguished Research Professor (past associate dean) at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she teaches private international law and international arbitration. She authors Canada’s main text on conflict of laws, cited in more than 400 judgments. http://janet-walker.com

Thank you to the many supporting organizations for this upcoming ILA Canada webinar!