This article is about two phenomena which currently impact the business of dispute resolution: The Vanishing Trial and the 30-70 %-Disease. What lies behind those two catch-words and why are both highly relevant for arbitration practitioners? Here is the proposed answer: The Vanishing Trial has been a long established phenomenon in the United States where the number of actually tried cases has been falling sharply for decades. Now, this trend is spotted in Germany as…
A tribunal in an investment arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules between South American Silver Limited (“Claimant”)…
In a recent decision, the Higher Regional Court of Munich (Oberlandesgericht München; hereinafter: “Court”) ruled that an arbitrator…
On 23 June 2016, the British public voted 51.9% in favor of leaving the EU (“Brexit“). Legal practitioners, as well as businesses that are or may at some point be involved in disputes, are recommended to consider how this referendum will affect them. This article discusses some of the implications of the referendum for international commercial arbitration: what it means for ongoing London arbitrations (at 1.), what it means for future disputes (at 2.), and…
In January 2016, the German Federal Supreme Court had to deal with the question whether an arbitral tribunal…
“Investment arbitration” is a hot topic not only but also because the Europeans refuse to accept the respective…
Document production, at least to some extent, is an integral part of most international arbitration proceedings. This is true even if the substantive law governing the dispute follows the civil law tradition. In that case, however, the provisions in the substantive law build upon the premise that there is no document production. Does this lead to a conflict between substantive and procedural law in international arbitration? It can be very difficult for a claimant to…
Arbitrability: The Limits of Arbitration on 7 April 2016, 12.00-2.00pm Venue: CCLS, room 3.1, 67-69 Lincoln’s Inn Fields,…
When about 150,000 demonstrators protested against the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in Berlin in October…
Anchoring is a psychological phenomenon wherein a person is influenced by certain reference points he or she is given at the beginning. Accordingly, a high claim in an arbitration, or a high starting offer in a negotiation, can influence the end result. Research suggests, however, that also nondescript information, i.e. information that carries no useful information for the issue to be decided, can influence decision making. Does this also work in arbitration? Psychology teaches that…