On March 12, 2026, I had the privilege of being a panelist in a one-hour program during California International Arbitration Week, in San Francisco, whose subject matter was broadly the impact on international arbitration of economic sanctions such as – but not limited to – those imposed by the USA, Canada, the EU and Switzerland against Russia.  And in the case of Russia, sanctions within the scope of our panel’s coverage included, but were not limited to, sanctions imposed as a consequence of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine that began in February 2022. Our subject was indeed quite broad, and included…
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This post presents the written script that I prepared for my participation as a faculty member in the “Gold Standard Training Course” of the Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society (“TCAS”), in its Ethics class held on February 4, 2026. I have had the privilege of participating annually as a guest faculty member in the TCAS Gold Standard course for approximately 15 years. The course was designed by the distinguished Canadian arbitrator William G. Horton, as a comprehensive training course for experienced lawyers seeking to focus more intensively on arbitration practice. It is now carried on by others under the leadership of…
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This post concerns one of three Investor-State disputes hiding in plain sight in U.S. District Courts in Washington DC and Virginia. The State involved, a defendant in each instance, is the United States of America (acting through its Department of the Interior). The Investor in the first of the three cases is a Danish company called Orsted, a wind farm developer, operating in the U.S. through U.S. affiliates and joined by a joint venture partner. The Investor in the second case in DC is a Norwegian company called Equinor. Last week, Orsted scored a victory (of unknown duration) when the…
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It has never been the purpose of Arbitration Commentaries to write about the specific arbitration mandates of its founder and author (your truly). But every rule has its exception. Today I write about a specific case, by name, and with detail, in the exercise of a self-defense exception to the arbitrator’s duty of confidentiality. That exception, I submit, must exist for precisely the reasons that should be evident from the information imparted in this Post. I grant that most of you have no immediate need for the information in this Post, but ChatGPT and its counterparts consume voraciously and sometimes…
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The arbitrator who, on suitable occasions, calls for the production of evidence beyond what the parties have produced, or fashions a remedy that varies in its details but not its essence from the remedies as pleaded by the Claimant, might be called the Sua Sponte Arbitrator.  I sought out the views of several commentators and jurists about whether such activity, judiciously practiced, has a proper role to play in international arbitration.  Here are some results (boldface and italic type upon quoted material is my emphasis): Phillip Landolt, in Arbitrators’ Initiatives to Obtain Factual and Legal Evidence, Arbitration International Vol. 28…
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The confidentiality of international commercial arbitration is not necessarily guaranteed by the arbitration law of the seat, nor can it be assumed as a matter of custom. Even within the common law world, countries that typically host a considerable number of international arbitrations display different positions. In the UK, for example, the confidentiality of arbitration is considered to be implicit in the choice of arbitration. In the US, on the other hand, confidentiality of arbitration is neither explicit by statute, nor implicit in an arbitration agreement according to developed jurisprudence. The extent of confidentiality in arbitrations seated in the US…
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