Prerequisites: None

Exam Type: Last Class Take-Home
There will be a take-home final exam and class participation will be weighed.

This course provides an intensive introduction to the law, theory and practice of international commercial arbitration, which has become the default method of resolving international commercial disputes. As companies and investors become increasingly involved in international business transactions, the practice of arbitration is rapidly growing apace in law firms of every size. The practice is peripatetic and global with many international arbitration lawyers basing themselves in law firms in New York, Washington D.C., Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore, and other major commercial centers, and appearing in proceedings in their home cities and throughout the world.

The course will examine arbitration law and practice from a comparative, multi-jurisdictional perspective. At the same time, it will also address in depth the United States law of international commercial arbitration. Students can expect to review both commentaries, statutes and case law on the subject. The course is comprised of five main topics: (1) an introduction to the field of international commercial arbitration; (2) the agreement to arbitrate; (3) the selection and role of the arbitrators; (4) the arbitration process; and (5) the arbitral award. The role of national courts in the process will also be examined.

The course will also address new developments in international arbitration in relation to how technology is impacting the practice of arbitration and the use of arbitration to the digital economy in both mundane and more exotic applications.