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On Monday 2 June, we were delighted to be one of the hosts of the 2025 London International Disputes Week (LIDW) International Arbitration Day.
LIDW, this year running from 2-6 June, aims to deliver a world-class programme of events, providing an opportunity for members of the international disputes community to come together and engage with peers on topical issues shaping the dispute resolution landscape. The International Arbitration Day was an important “tentpole”event to open LIDW and consisted of panel discussions across a “hub” of three firms including Linklaters, Simmons & Simmons, and Squire Patton Boggs.
At Linklaters, the day commenced with a key-note speech by Kevin Nash, Director General of the LCIA. Kevin was immediately followed by a panel session entitled “Best practices and bug bears: a world tour of in-house counsel jurisdictional perspectives on international arbitration” moderated by Ben Holland (K&L Gates) who spoke to Suber Akther (Siemens Energy), Borja Garcia Ruiz (Iberdrola Espana) ,Sanjeev Gemawat (Essar Group) and Alan Henderson (Multiplex Constructions LLC) about their personal experiences of arbitration in different regions around the world.
Our second panel of the morning was led by our own Teresa Laboucarie-Polak. Teresa chaired a discussion “On the frontier of disputes in the Middle East: Giga projects, economic diversification and the role of arbitration” which took an in-depth look at the unique issues presented by the disputes arising from such projects including their potential scale, how they might be managed, and how they might best be avoided. Teresa was joined by a panel of diverse experience and expertise comprising: Julian Hodda (Neom), Ahmed Ibrahim (Independent Arbitrator and Founder of Ibrahim ADR), Haroon Niazi (HKA), Anneliese Day KC (Fountain Court) and Christian Alberti (Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration).
After lunch, our next panel looked at the topical issue of “Russia related disputes, international sanctions and differing perspectives on anti-suit relief: supporting arbitration or overstepping boundaries?” That discussion focussed on the competition between fora in disputes involving entities subject to sanctions and how affected parties are navigating these challenges in various jurisdictions. The panel was chaired by Stephen Houseman KC (Essex Court Chambers), who was joined by Prof. Yarik Kryvoi (BIICL/Keidan Harrison), Maya Lester KC (Brick Court Chambers), Dr. Dean Lewis (Pinsent Masons) and our own Kerstin Wilhelm from our Munich office.
The final panel of the day was a consideration of “Procedural efficiency - enough tools already, or more innovation to come?”. At this session, the panel delved into a discussion of their views on what tribunals, institutions and parties can do to best achieve an expeditious, and cost-effective, resolution of arbitral proceedings. The discussion was moderated by Christopher Style KC (Chair of the LCIA Board), who spoke with Alexander Fessas (Secretary General, ICC International Court of Arbitration), The Rt. Hon. Dame Elizabeth Gloster DBE, PC (One Essex Court), Andres Larrea Savinovic (SIAC) and Alison Ross (Global Arbitration Review)
A huge thanks to our keynote speaker, outstanding panellists and many guests for coming along and contributing to a really special and interesting day!
