PROGRAMME
9.00: Welcome coffee and registration
9.30: Chairs’ opening remarks
Stefan Riegler, Wolf Theiss
Eliane Fischer, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Alice Fremuth-Wolf, Secretary General, Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC)
9.45: Session one: Settlement in arbitration – should more cases settle and, if so, what is getting in the way?
Settlements are the preferred option for most businesses and are almost always attempted before cases go to arbitration or litigation. So, when negotiations have already failed, and one side is waging arbitration, is that it? Has all opportunity to settle been lost?
In this panel, leading names will explore why some cases fail to settle, how settlement in arbitration compares with settlement in national litigation, and what the world of arbitration can or should do to get the balance in settlement right. In particular they will ask: should the arbitral tribunal engage in such negotiations, and to what extent? Or is this better left to third party neutrals? What do institutional figures show on the settlement ratio and on the types of cases that are settled? What role do parties, arbitrators, counsel and arbitral institutions play? What are potential pitfalls when a settlement is reached?
Questions the panel are expected to discuss include:
- What is the role of the arbitral tribunal in settlement negotiations?
- How can you spot the right time to settle? What are the signs?
- How do cultural differences affect settlement negotiations?
- How can you ensure the settlement is binding and awarded on agreed terms? What dispute mechanisms are available here?
- What goes wrong – are there cases that should settle that fail to, and are there settlements that collapse over disagreements about what was settled?
- How should parties best execute the settlement agreements?
Moderator:
Alice Fremuth-Wolf, Secretary General, Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC)
Panel:
Julia Zagonek, White & Case
Davor Babic, University of Zagreb Faculty of Law
Dirk Buschle, Energy Community
11.00: Coffee break
11.30: Session two: Question time – third party funding; and post-M&A disputes
Delegates will pre-submit questions in advance on the special topics: “Third Party Funding” and “Post-M&A Disputes”. The moderators and members of the panel will engage in a discussion with the audience.
Panel:
Stavros Brekoulakis, Queen Mary University of London Law School
Amy Kläsener, Dentons
Werner Jahnel, LALIVE
12.45: Networking lunch
13.45: Lunchtime keynote address: “Poetic Prophecy: The Future of Arbitration”
Jörg Risse, Baker McKenzie
14.15: Session three: The future of investment arbitration – where do things go from here?
The world of investor-state disputes is in flux – from the Achmea ruling to proposals for investment courts to rule changes. How do all these changes play out? In this panel, speakers will do their best to help the audience chart a course through these disparate events and form a picture of what investor-state work will look like in five years. What kinds of cases will be being brought – under what instruments, and before which institutions?
Questions the panel are expected to discuss include:
- How will the Achmea ruling change the intra-EU landscape of investment arbitration – and what changes have emerged from the decision already? Who were the winners and losers?
- Would a European Investment Court constitute a big change to European investment arbitration?
- Could or should transcontinental trade deals (e.g. TTIP) trigger a new era of investment arbitration? Can the same be said for major infrastructure projects like the Belt and Road initiative?
- How far should a revision of the ICSID Rules go?
- What other challenges does ICSID face that might not be handled through a revision of the rules?
Panel:
Sabine Konrad, McDermott Will and Emery
Dalibor Valinčić, Dechert
Paschalis Paschalidis, Référendaire, Cour de Justice de l’Union Européenne
August Reinisch, University of Vienna
Julie Bédard, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
15.30: Coffee break
16.00: Session four: The GAR Live debate
In Oxford Union style, we will hear teams of debaters argue in favour of, or against, a motion. A panel of three judges will then voice opinions on what has been heard, before choosing which side to support and giving reasons for their decisions.
Motion: “This house believes, in all but exceptional cases, document production is a complete waste of time”
Moderator:
Eliane Fischer, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Judge:
Wulf Gordian Hauser, Hauser Partners
Patrizia Netal, Knoetzl
Martin Magal, Allen & Overy
Debaters:
Franz Schwarz, WilmerHale
Anna-Maria Tamminen, Hannes Snellman
Nadia Darwazeh, Clyde & Co
Stephan Jagusch, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
17.15: Lifetime award to Prof Eric Bergsten; laudatio by Daniel Girsberger and Stavros Berkoulakis
17.30 onwards: All delegates are invited to attend a drinks reception kindly hosted by VIAC
