Advocacy in International Commercial Arbitration, edited by Elliott Geisinger & Guillaume Tattevin

Abstract

Advocacy in International Commercial Arbitration , edited by Elliott Geisinger & Guillaume Tattevin, ASA Special Series No 36, JurisNet, LLC 2013. This volume brings together various initiatives of the Swiss Arbitration Association relating to arbitral advocacy. These initiatives include the Association Suisse de l'Arbitrage (ASA) Charter of Advocacy in International Commercial Arbitration, the ASA Prize for Advocacy in International Commercial Arbitration, as well as institutional advocacy training in Switzerland. The book also includes supporting material in the form of the laudatorio for the 2010 and 2012 winners of the ASA Prize for Advocacy (respectively, Franz Schwarz and Philippe Pinsolle), brief descriptions of the advocacy training offered by the Swiss Arbitration Academy, the Foundation for International Advocacy and the MIDS-Geneva LLM in international arbitration. There are also three more substantial essays being a review of issues raised by advocacy in international arbitration (Elliott Geisinger), a possible model for the regulation of professional conduct in international arbitration (Matthew Gearing and Sheila Ahuja), and an essay on advocacy training (Jeffrey Waincymer). Arbitral advocacy has attracted considerable discussion in professional circles in recent years. There have been a number of conferences devoted to the theme (most significantly the 2010 International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) conference in Rio de Janeiro) as well as books and articles. There have probably been a number of reasons for this interest. We are currently in a phase of attempted harmonization of different traditions in international arbitration and advocacy is a fertile field for different assumptions and practices between jurisdictions; the phenomenal success of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot is producing young lawyers with a much greater consciousness of the character and technique of advocacy, as well as stimulating an overdue attention to the systematic training and preparation of lawyers in arbitral advocacy; and the drive for efficiency and savings of time and cost in arbitration has focused attention on forensic practices that might needlessly consume time … d.cairns{at}bcremades.com