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Costs of International Arbitration

“We invite all legal representatives, in-house counsel and arbitral tribunal members

to contribute to this major survey into costs in international arbitration. The survey

report and conference will provide an invaluable contribution to the debate on costs,

helping to generate proposals to restore speed and cost-effectiveness to the arbitration process.

This is essential if international arbitration is to maintain its position

as the commercial dispute resolution method of choice."

 “To make the survey effective, we need corporate counsel, party representatives, arbitrators and tribunal members to give us as much data as possible on arbitrations in which they have been involved.”

Doug Jones SC FCIArb, Vice President of CIArb

The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) has launched a major survey into the costs of international arbitration. The ‘Costs of Arbitration’ survey gathers data to inform parties, legal representatives and arbitrators about the overall costs of international commercial arbitration and how these are incurred at each stage.

International arbitration has a justifiable reputation as the preferred method of dispute resolution for international commercial disputes. However, as the size and complexity of disputes referred to international arbitration has increased, so too have concerns about the growing complexity, cost and time involved in the process, diminishing some of the very factors that make it preferable to the courts for commercial dispute resolution.

The results will be analysed and presented at an international conference organised by CIArb and sponsored by Alvarez & Marsal on 27 - 28 September 2011 in London, aimed at uncovering ways in which costs might be reduced and the process streamlined to become more cost-effective and efficient.

CIArb’s Costs of Arbitration survey will play a key role in understanding the present position and, together with the international conference on the Costs of International Arbitration, finding ways of tackling the problem and reducing the costs of arbitration.

All participants in the survey will receive a report of the survey findings and a discount on the cost of attending the conference.

The launch of CIArb’s survey reflects the sustained growth of international arbitration worldwide and its importance to global corporations. Last month Queen Mary University of London released the findings of its 2010 survey exploring the factors that influence corporate choices about arbitration. CIArb’s survey will focus specifically on the crucial aspect of costs, a factor not specifically examined in the Queen Mary survey but one which is becoming ever more critical to all businesses, especially in the present economic climate.

The conference will assemble an array of distinguished speakers to discuss the impact of costs in different jurisdictions and sectors. It will include contributions from all those involved in the process, from in-house counsel in the commercial, construction, maritime and oil and gas sectors to lawyers, arbitrators and expert witnesses.

 It will be an essential date in the diary for all practitioners, corporate counsel, chief executives, commercial and finance directors, international trade lawyers, investment advisers, policymakers and contract drafters.

To complete the Costs in Arbitration Survey (party representatives or arbitral tribunal members) please visit www.shape-the-future.com/costsurvey

 To find out more information about CIArb’s Costs of International Arbitration conference or to register your interest, please visit CIArb’s conference site: www.ciarb.org/conferences/costs

About the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)

The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) is the world’s leading professional membership body for arbitration and alternative dispute resolution. A not-for-profit organisation, CIArb promotes the use of alternative dispute resolution internationally through a membership of 12,000 professionally qualified members in more than 110 countries.

In addition to providing education and training for arbitrators, mediators and adjudicators, CIArb acts as an international resource centre for practitioners, policy makers, academics and those in business concerned with the cost-effective and early settlement of disputes.