Monday 14 April 2025
Anantara Palais Hansen Vienna
Schottenring 24, Wien 1010, Austria
JURIS Conferences invites you to register for our Leading Arbitrator’s Symposium, held annually during the Vis Moot competition in Vienna. This year marks the twentieth iteration of the conference and is commemorated with a new edition of the Leading Arbitrators’ Guide to International Arbitration.
The conference features a four-panel program with leading arbitration practitioners and scholars. They will address important questions about the evolving dynamics of international arbitration, including security, sustainability, the next generation of arbitrators, changes to arbitral rules, and more.
Registration
Registration includes refreshments, lunch, reception, and a digital copy of the new Leading Arbitrators Guide to International Arbitration – Fourth Edition and special discounts on the hardcover book. The fee does not include accommodations.
Pricing is available for individual sessions and half day attendance. Please contact our manager, Jessica Hernández (jhernandez@jurispub.com) for details.
Registration is Closed: See You Next Year
Click Here to register for the Twentieth Annual Leading Arbitrators’ Symposium at the *Academic/Govt/Corporate rate of $249.00 USD
* ONLY available to full-time academics [with no law firm affiliation], government employees, and full-time in-house corporate counsel.
*** Coupon code must be entered at the time of registration in the shopping cart and applied before proceeding to checkout. Codes may not be used retroactively and will expire Monday 31 March 2025.
Wire transfer inquiries contact events@jurispub.com
Continuing Legal Education: 7 hours of NYS CLE credit (transitional and non-transitional) in the Areas of Professional Practice a NYSCLE certificate of attendance will be provided upon request which may be used when applying for credit in other jurisdictions.
Student Rate: For traditional full-time students with current student ID; Contact JURIS Conferences at: events@jurispub.com for current rate.
Cancellations: 50% of the Registration fee will be refunded for any cancellation received in writing by JURIS Conferences LLC prior to the Monday 31 March 2025. No refund can be made for cancellations received after this date. You are welcome to send a substitute at any time. Please notify us if you plan to send a substitute since updated registration materials will be required.
Financial Aid:
Our Financial Aid policy is available here
Program
8:00 – 9:00 Registration Check-In – Coffee and Tea upon arrival
9:00 – 10:30 Working Session 1 – Initial Organization of the Arbitral Proceeding and Pre-Hearing Activities
Leader: Patricia Shaughnessy – Stockholm University
Panelists:
Claudia Benavides-Galvis – Benavides Mejía Dispute Resolution (Colombia)
James Castello – Arbitration Chambers (Paris)
Doug Jones – Independent Arbitrator (London, Sydney, Toronto)
Kevin Nash – London Court of International Arbitration
Ann Ryan Robertson – Troutman Pepper Locke (Houston)
Discussion Topics:
- Is it advisable to schedule, at the first meeting, mid-stream procedures such as “check-ins” by the Tribunal or Kaplan Openings.
- Do parties take sufficient advantage of opportunities for early determinations?
- Challenges posed by the rapid expansion of AI technology.
- Are parties and arbitrators genuinely engaging in appropriate data protections processes? What are best practices in relation to cyber security, and how can we balance security demands and practical considerations, recognizing the differing expectations and preferences of all participants in an arbitration?
- What is the tribunal’s obligation regarding settlement? Are there different regional perspectives about this?
- Procedures for best presenting complex damages evidence – avoiding ships passing in the night.
- Practicalities of submissions: is sufficient thought given to optimizing the shape and form of submissions including numbering, hyperlinking, etc? What works best for one party or even both, may not be optimal for the arbitrators. How should their interests be balanced and is this adequately and transparently addressed for instance in the CMC?
- Third-party funding: at what stage should funding be disclosed and have standards developed sufficiently to allow sensible disclosure?
- There is increasing guidance on the use of tribunal secretaries, both in institutional rules and guidelines and in case law. Is practice changing and how can practice be improved further?
- Is sustainability the new diversity? Should we aim for comprehensive, industry wide standards based on more research and clear guidelines on the carbon footprint of arbitration or start with small steps regardless?
10:30 – 11:00 Networking Coffee/Tea Break
11:00 – 11:10 Keynote Address on Occasion of 20th Annual Leading Arbitrators Conference: Lawrence W. Newman – Baker McKenzie (New York)
11:10 – 12:40 Working Session 2 – Effective Presentation of Evidence
Leader: Todd Wetmore – Three Crowns (Paris)
Panelists:
Cecilia Flores Rueda – FloresRueda Abogados (Mexico City)
Stephen Jagusch – Quinn Emanuel (London)
Timothy G. Nelson – Skadden (New York)
Stefan Riegler – Wolf Theiss (Vienna)
Malgorzata Surdek-Janicka – SURDEK ARBITRATION (Warsaw)
Discussion Topics:
- What are best practices in relation to virtual hearings; are these now the default for case management conferences? When is it appropriate for the arbitrators to require these over objection of a party?
- When are tribunal-appointed experts useful; should they always appear at a hearing and be subjected to questions about his or her conclusions?
- Do the Prague Rules add anything, or is there a predominating style of taking evidence in international arbitration, i.e., have we arrived at a Lex naturalis arbitri void of cultural differences?
- Is it always necessary to have an oral hearing? When is summary disposition permissible (or necessary)?
- Who controls the length of a hearing? Should arbitrators impose their views or defer to the parties?
- Are there too many witnesses, too many documents – is advocacy lost among the detail?
- How can the tribunal or parties control tactical decisions by parties not to cross-examine key witnesses?
- Is witness conferencing effective? Is this only for experts? Are there particular circumstances when it is most appropriate? Inappropriate?
12:40 – 14:00 Networking Luncheon
14:00 – 15:30 Working Session 3 – Next Generation Leading Arbitrators
Leader: Filip Boras – Baker McKenzie (Vienna)
Panelists:
Anina Liebkind – Norburg & Scherp (Stockholm)
Jovan Nikčević – Nikčević Kapor (Belgrade)
Flavio Peter – Peter & Kim (Zurich)
Sherlin Tung – Withers (Hong Kong S.A.R.)
Discussion Topics:
- How to get first appointments in high-profile cases?
- What should the new generation of leading arbitrators do differently than previous generations to succeed?
- How important is the predictability of decision making in the selection of an arbitrator? How to overcome this if a young arbitrator has no sufficient track record of existing awards?
- How to give clients the comfort of appointing a young arbitrator?
- Is service as a Tribunal secretary useful? Necessary?
- What was the most useful advice panelists have received about how to preside as chair?
15:30 – 16:00 Networking Coffee/Tea Break
16:00 – 17:30 Working Session 4 – Tribunal Deliberations and Dynamics
Leader: Grant Hanessian – Independent Arbitrator (New York)
Panelists:
Wulf Gordian Hauser – Hauser Partners (Vienna)
Gabrielle Nater-Bass – Homburger (Zurich)
Carmen Nuñez-Lagos – Independent Arbitrator (Paris)
Cesar Pereira – Justen, Pereira, Oliveira & Talamini (Sao Paulo)
Janet Walker – Independent Arbitrator, York University (London, Toronto, and Sydney)
Discussion Topics:
- Are there best practices as to how a Tribunal should organize its work? Does the efficiency of the arbitration as to the delivery of the award depend entirely on the chairman? What can the wing arbitrators do to increase efficiency and assure quality?
- To what extent should, or must, arbitrators disclose that they are using secretaries? If the arbitrators want to use secretaries and disclose their identity and involvement, how should they do it? Are arbitrators complying with the ICC’s note applicable to arbitrators and secretaries? What can parties and counsel do if they are not aware of certain arbitrators’ practices in this regard until after they appoint them? Or the chairman, whom they may not have appointed?
- What can be done if an arbitrator is not doing his or her work as the case proceeds or is not paying attention in the course of the proceedings? What if this is the chairman?
- Should the arbitrators deliberate on the award immediately after the final evidentiary hearing? After receiving the post-hearing briefs? After post-hearing oral argument? Should the arbitrators meet in person? Or by telecommunication? Should arbitrators discuss among themselves the merits of the cases as they proceed? Should such discussions be mandatory? Avoided? Casual or structured (for example, “What did we learn today?”).
- What should the third arbitrator do if the other arbitrators discuss the case or meet without him or her?
- Compromises – how imperfect is a unanimous award? Should the tribunal accommodate the potential dissenting arbitrator? If so, how? For example, with respect to the award of legal fees? What does a dissent accomplish?
- When should, or may, the arbitrators rule on the basis of theories or arguments that the parties have not made? What if the arbitrators believe that parties have not understood the precedents they cite, or the facts they refer to, in the same way as the arbitrators do? When should the arbitrators go to the parties and ask for their comments? Should there be a difference between legal and factual issues?
- What should the arbitrators do if they do not understand certain expert testimony? For example, damages evidence? Should they ask the parties for comments? What if they are working under a deadline to get the award out? Or they don’t want to confess their inability to understand the evidence?
- To what extent may arbitrators do their own research on matters of general knowledge, such as how certain machines in the case actually work? Or how certain financial investments function?
17:45 – 20:00 Cocktail Reception compliments of Hauser Partners at the Rennverein Club invitation only, included with registration.
Faculty
Conference Co-Chairs
Grant Hanessian: is an independent arbitrator in New York, specializing in international commercial and investor-state disputes. Mr. Hanessian has acted as arbitrator and counsel in more than 200 commercial and treaty disputes arising under the laws of many common and civil law countries and public international law. Prior to July 2020, he was a partner at Baker McKenzie, where he practiced for 33 years, and served as global co-head of the firm’s International Arbitration Practice. Mr. Hanessian teaches international arbitration at Fordham University School of Law and Yerevan State University and serves as the first president of the Arbitration Council of the Arbitration and Mediation Center of Armenia.
Patricia Shaughnessy: a professor at Stockholm University, is a member of the ICC Court of Arbitration and the ICC Commission, and formerly the Vice-Chair and Board member of the SCC Arbitration Institute (2006 – 2018). She is the President of the Willem C Vis Moot Organization. She serves as an arbitrator and expert, and has led legal development projects in many countries. She previously practiced law for ten years in the United States.
Speakers
Claudia Benavides-Galvis: over 27 years of experience resolving complex disputes related to major infrastructure and construction projects, post-M&A and shareholders disputes, distribution and agency claims, and breach of sophisticated agreements in various sectors, including energy and utilities, mining, manufacturing, healthcare and technology. She advises investors on international protection in the context of government interference. Before founding Benavides Mejía Dispute Resolution, Claudia was the Head of the Latin American Disputes practice at Baker McKenzie, where she served thereafter as Global Chair of the global Dispute Resolution practice group between 2019 and 2024. Claudia currently serves as a member of the Court of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Filip Boras: heads the Dispute Resolution Practice Group in the Baker McKenzie Vienna office and is a member of the firm’s global International Arbitration Steering Committee. His experience covers a wide variety of disputes related to Central & Eastern Europe, including international commercial and investment arbitration before all major institutions and ad hoc tribunals. He is widely recognized as a leading lawyer for dispute resolution in Central & Eastern Europe.
James Castello: Independent Arbitrator, based in Paris, is a member of Arbitration Chambers, which has offices in New York, London, Hong Kong & Singapore. He is experienced in both commercial and investor-State arbitration and has been based in Europe for 25 of his 37 years in practice, the last 15 years of which were spent as a founding arbitration partner of King & Spalding’s Paris office. James has served as a U.S. delegate to UNCITRAL’s Arbitration Working Group II for more than two decades and in Working Group III (ISDS reform) from its inception. James also serves as Deputy Chair of the LCIA’s Board of Directors and sits on the International Advisory Board of Vienna’s International Arbitral Centre. A Vice-Chair of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration, James has been a founding member of its Rule of Law Task Force. After obtaining degrees from Yale and Berkeley, James began his legal career with clerkships at the U.S. Supreme Court and the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal. According to Chambers Global, he is “praised by market commentators as an ‘absolutely open, thorough, fantastic lawyer.’” He is admitted to practice in New York, Washington, D.C., and Paris.
Cecilia Flores Rueda, FCIArb, MCCA: is the founder of FloresRueda Abogados, specializing in dispute resolution, acting as both arbitrator and counsel in complex national and international cases. Her combined arbitration and litigation expertise allows her to handle injunctive relief, interim measures, and the enforcement of arbitral awards. She is the Chair of the North America Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Wulf Gordian Hauser: is Senior Partner of Hauser Partners Rechtsanwälte. His main areas of practice are international commercial arbitration, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets. He was Austrian member of the ICC court from 2012 – 2018 and has served in over 100 arbitrations. His arbitration activities focus on post M&A-disputes, construction, technology, corporate and private foundations.
Stephan Jagusch KC: has over three decades of experience exclusively in international commercial and investment treaty arbitration. He has been lead counsel in many of the world’s most high-profile cases. He has been involved in disputes involving over 30 different sovereign states. A renowned strategist and advocate he is highly sought after by states, multinationals, ultra-high net worth individuals and family offices. Stephen is widely published in the area and routinely speaks at leading arbitration events globally.
Doug Jones AO: is highly regarded as an international arbitrator, particularly in construction disputes. In 2024, Chambers and Partners recognized him as “one of the top three arbitrators in the world”. He has been involved as an arbitrator in over 190 arbitrations which includes construction, infrastructure, energy, commodities, intellectual property, joint venture and investor-state disputes spanning over 30 jurisdictions across the world. Doug has held appointments at several international professional associations, including as President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CiArb), International Academy of Construction Lawyers (IACL) and the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA). Also an International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court. Has published and presented extensively in the field of construction law and construction arbitration. He is co-Editor in Chief of the International Construction Law Review and has held professorial appointments at Queen Mary College, University of London and Melbourne University Law School.
Anina Liebkind: is a Stockholm based disputes partner with over 15 years of experience, specializing in international arbitration, arbitration related litigation and complex cross border litigation. She frequently serves as an arbitrator. Focuses on disputes in the field of technology, energy, automotive and construction. She is recognized by several ranking institutes as a leading practitioner in arbitration in Sweden. Member of the bar in both Sweden and Finland and has an LLM degree in international dispute settlement from the Graduate Institute of Geneva and University of Geneva (MIDS). Board Member of the Finnish Arbitration Institute (FAI), Swedish Women in Arbitration Network (SWAN). Previously served as co-chair of the IBA Arb40 subcommittee (2020-2021), and on the Advisory Board of Young Arbitrators Sweden (YAS) (2014-2015).
Kevin Nash: is the Director General of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). The Director General fulfils the role of Chief Executive Officer, with day-to-day responsibility for the conduct of the business of the LCIA, serves as the principal point of contact between the institution and its Board and Court, and represents the LCIA on the international stage. Kevin joined the LCIA after 13 years in Singapore where he served as the Registrar of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). Prior to his time in Singapore, Kevin worked at a prominent ‘Seven Sister’ law firm in Toronto, Canada. Recognized for being ‘in a league of his own’ who ‘knows everything there is to know about international arbitration’ Kevin is listed by Who’s Who Legal as a Global Leader and a National Leader for Singapore and the United Kingdom. Peers and clients have described him as a ‘rock star of arbitration’ who is ‘smart and practical’ and ‘willing to get his hands dirty and do the hard work’. Kevin is qualified as a Barrister and Solicitor with the Law Society of Ontario.
Gabrielle Nater-Bass is a partner at Homburger, Zurich. She specializes in international arbitration as well as litigation and regularly acts as counsel and arbitrator in arbitration proceedings. She also represents clients in complex disputes before state courts, in relation to cross-border judicial assistance proceedings as well as arbitration related appeal proceedings before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. She is vice president of the LCIA Court and board member of the Swiss Arbitration Association and the Swiss Arbitration Centre.
Timothy Nelson: is an experienced advocate in international commercial and investment disputes, including arbitration before ICSID, ICC, ICDR-AAA, LCIA. JAMS, SIAC, HKIAC and UNCITRAL tribunals. He serves as lead counsel in a variety of arbitration cases — oil and gas/LNG, solar/renewables, nuclear, petrochemical, banking, M&A, telecommunications/satellites, private equity, hotel, retail and sports/motor racing. He has handled both investor-state/treaty arbitration and private commercial arbitration, as well as arbitration award enforcement cases under the New York Convention and ICSID Convention. He handles litigation arising from the Anti-Terrorism Act, the Alien Tort Claims Act, “Section 1782” (cross-border discovery), disputes involving immunity issues (sovereign immunity, diplomatic immunity and/or consular immunity), and claims involving alleged misappropriation of artwork and cultural artefacts. Admitted in both New York and England, he serves on the Professional Advisory Council of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration and is a member of the International Institute of Space Law. He is frequently published and quoted on issues concerning international arbitration, public international law and space law, and is the co-editor of “Take the Witness: Cross Examination in International Arbitration.”
Lawrence W. Newman: is of Counsel in Baker & McKenzie’s New York office. He practices mainly in the areas of international litigation and arbitration and has represented clients in courts and before arbitration tribunals. Served as arbitrator in cases under the rules of the AAA/ICDR and the International Chamber of Commerce. Co-editor of The Leading Arbitrators’ Guide to International Arbitration which is the basis of the Leading Arbitrators Symposium on the Conduct of International Arbitration.
Jovan Nikčević: is a FIDIC and arbitration practitioner. As an in-house contract manager and now as a lawyer, he advised numerous FIDIC-based projects across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. He has extensive experience in both commercial and investment arbitration, serving as counsel, arbitrator, as well as acting in DAB proceedings as counsel or adjudicator. He is currently serving as a Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration for the 2024–2027 term.
Carmen Núñez-Lagos: an experienced international independent arbitrator based in Paris. She is a member of the Council of the ICC World Business Institute; of the Court of the Swiss Arbitration Center; of the Consiglio of the Milan Chamber of Arbitration; and Vice-President of the Spanish Arbitration Club. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Exeter (UK) and is qualified in France and Spain and fluent in Spanish, English, French and Italian.
Cesar Pereira C.Arb FCiarb: is a Chartered Arbitrator and partner at Justen, Pereira, Oliveira & Talamini, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and co-heads his firm’s infrastructure and arbitration practices. His work as counsel, arbitrator or legal expert focuses on infrastructure projects, regulated industries, public procurement, and international sales of goods (CISG), and he has authored or edited articles, book chapters and books in these fields. He has a doctorate in administrative law and has been a visiting scholar in the areas of arbitration and public procurement at Columbia University, George Washington University, and the University of Nottingham. He sits regularly as an arbitrator in international and domestic commercial cases under institutional rules such as AAA-ICDR, ICC, and CAM-CCBC, especially involving state parties or government contracts.
Flavio Peter: managing partner of Peter & Kim’s Zurich office specializes in international and domestic arbitration and related litigation proceedings. He primarily acts as party representative in disputes arising out of construction contracts, international sales contracts, long term gas supply contracts, but regularly also sits as arbitrator in international arbitration proceedings (under the major institutional rules). Member of the Swiss Arbitration Marketing Committee, member of the ICC Swiss Arbitration Commission, and a Fellow of the CIArb.
Stefan Riegler: heads Wolf Theiss’ firm-wide Disputes practice group. He specializes in advising clients on disputes in the energy, construction and infrastructure sectors; he is also experienced in handling corporate, post-M&A and banking disputes. Stefan serves on the Board of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC) and is heading the Austrian delegation of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR. Previously, he served as President of the Board of the Austrian Arbitration Association (ArbAut).
Ann Ryan Robertson C.Arb FCIArb: counsel with Troutman Pepper Locke, served as the 2021 global president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, is a leader in the field of international arbitration. An experienced chair, party-appointed, sole, and emergency arbitrator and is on the panels of neutrals of all the major arbitral institutions. Named to Global Arbitration Review’s “Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration” since 2015, in 2024 designated a “WWL Thought Leader: Arbitration.”
Małgorzata Surdek-Janicka: is a full-time arbitrator at SURDEK ARBITRATION and Vice-President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. Before establishing her international arbitrator’s practice, Małgorzata was a partner at CMS. She has sat as arbitrator in infrastructure and construction, post-M&A and commercial disputes in energy, mining, transportation, banking, insurance & reinsurance, technology, retail and manufacturing industries and involving parties from Western and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, and Northern America.
Sherlin Tung: Sis a partner in the international arbitration and litigation team at Withers, based in Hong Kong, where she specializes in cross-border corporate and commercial disputes, international commercial arbitration, and multi-jurisdictional litigations. Sherlin has a unique and diverse professional career in international transactions and cross-border disputes. From starting her career in international arbitration by training under the direct supervision of a leading international arbitrator and acting as his tribunal secretary in multiple complex international arbitration matters, to working with the leading international arbitral institution, the ICC Court of Arbitration (first in Hong Kong and then setting up the case management team office in New York) where she managed hundreds of international arbitrations, to working in-house for an international conglomerate where she handled all international disputes, before going to private practice and sitting as arbitrator on complex commercial arbitrations. Sherlin is listed on various arbitral institution panels and is very active in the international arbitration community. Sherlin is the Director, CEO of the Vis East Moot Foundation, which operates the Vis East Moot Competition, and a past President of the Moot Alumni Association.
Janet Walker CM: is a Chartered Arbitrator with chambers in Toronto, London and Sydney. For 25 years, she has served as arbitrator in ad hoc and administered commercial and treaty arbitrations in a variety of seats. Janet is an IBA ICP Committee Officer and past chair of the ICC Canada Arbitration Committee. She is a Distinguished Research Professor (past associate dean) at Osgoode Hall Law School and a member of the Ontario Bar.
Todd Wetmore: Tis a founding partner of Three Crowns, based in Paris, where he has handled complex international commercial arbitration cases for over 25 years. As counsel, he represents clients in high-stakes disputes disputes presenting challenging financial and technical issues, such as those arising under long term gas supply contracts, teaming arrangements, supply and M&A deals. Todd is also a recognised specialist in infrastructure and construction disputes and has led teams handling some of the largest construction disputes in arbitration. Todd also regularly sits as an arbitrator hearing commercial and investment disputes. Todd is a past Vice-President of the ICC Court and is qualified as an avocat in France and a solicitor in England.
Accommodations
Anantara Palais Hansen Vienna – Guest rooms are available at special conference rates from April 10th until April 17th, 2025.
Click Here to book your stay at the hotel with preferential room rates!
Hotel Contact Information:
Anantara Palais Hansen Vienna
Schottenring 24, Wien 1010, Austria
Hotel Reservations Contact:
Tel: +43 1 236 1000 8040
E-mail: groups.palaishansen@anantara.com
*Refer to JURIS Conferences Leading Arbitrators’ Symposium
