Founded in 1986 as a division of The Center for American and International Law, the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) was created to promote global adherence to the world's principal arbitration treaties and to educate business executives, government officials and lawyers about arbitration as a means of resolving transnational business disputes.

Since then, through its educational programs, scholarly publications, and membership activities – including the volunteer leadership and support of many outstanding attorneys, law firms and companies – the ITA has become an important international forum in the field of transnational arbitration.

The Annual Workshop
The ITA's annual Workshop addresses current issues of practice, procedure and policy in transnational commercial arbitration. The Workshop is presented each June in Dallas and attracts participants from over 40 countries. The program customarily includes several mock arbitration scenes interspersed with expert commentaries, in this manner both explaining and demonstrating the issues addressed. The mock proceedings and commentaries are written, performed and presented by an international faculty of experts that includes many of the foremost arbitrators and arbitration practitioners in the world.

The 19th Annual ITA Workshop was held on June 19, 2008 under the leadership of Co-Chairs Andrea K. Bjorklund (UC Davis School of Law, Davis), Stephen Jagusch (Allen & Overy LLP, London) and Claudia T. Salomon (DLA Piper US LLP, New York).

The ITA Forum
On the morning following the Workshop, the ITA hosts its invitation-only Friday morning Forum, an informal roundtable discussion on current transnational arbitration issues. The Forum is open to Advisory Board members and Workshop faculty.

A special event, the Forum provides the opportunity for members of the ITA Advisory Board to share their considerable experience in transnational arbitration in an informal environment on emerging and important issues of the day. The agenda for this open discussion is determined by the participants.

World Arbitration and Mediation Review (WAMR)

News and Notes
News and Notes, ITA's quarterly newsletter, contains scholarly articles and current information on events and people in the international arbitration community. It also features the ITA's Scoreboard of Adherence to Transnational Arbitration Treaties.

News and Notes is edited by Stephen Wallace, Vice President & General Counsel, Westlake Chemical Corporation, Houston), and is published by SMU Dedman School of Law (Dallas). News and Notes is delivered free to ITA members and is also available by annual subscription to nonmembers. The subscription price for hard copy delivery to non-members is $30. Click here to subscribe.

Scoreboard of Adherence to Transnational Arbitration Treaties
The Scoreboard of Adherence to Transnational Arbitration Treaties is a regularly-updated report on the status of every country's adherence to the primary international arbitration treaties.

A comprehensive, easy-to-read chart, the Scoreboard appears in ITA's quarterly newsletter, News and Notes. The latest Scoreboard is also available online.

The ITA Video Library
Originally presented live and later edited for educational use by professors, firms and individual attorneys seeking to teach or understand this growing area of international practice, The Institute for Transnational Arbitration’s library of educational DVD’s are designed to demonstrate and explain the ordinarily private world of international arbitration. Watch an international panel of arbitrators discuss and decide the issues; then listen to international experts explain the issues in the mock scenes.

For more information about these publications, click here.

The ITA Board of Reporters and KluwerArbitration.com
ITA, through its Board of Reporters -- together with Kluwer Arbitration International, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) -- presents KluwerArbitration.com, the most comprehensive, up-to-date website for international arbitration resources on the Internet.

KluwerArbitration.com offers, in fully searchable form:

• Comprehensive coverage of the treaties, legislation, rules, court decisions and arbitration institutions of most of the world's countries, organized by country;
• The primary international conventions and model laws concerning arbitration;
• Timely updates on new developments around the world;
• A directory of multilateral and national arbitration institutions, with links to their rules, model clauses and arbitral awards;
• A directory of upcoming events in the world of international arbitration; and
• A wealth of additional primary and secondary material by the leading commentators in the field.

Click here to visit KluwerArbitration.com.

The work of the ITA is done primarily through its Advisory Board, its Executive Committee and the Academic Council.

Advisory Board
The Advisory Board is comprised of representatives designated by ITA Members. Each ITA Member may appoint one representative to the Advisory Board.

The ITA Advisory Board meets each June over dinner following the annual Workshop, and is invited to attend the ITA Friday morning Forum, an informal, invitation-only roundtable discussion on the morning after the Workshop. The 2008 Annual Meeting of the Advisory Board was held June 19, 2008.

The Executive Committee of the Advisory Board meets twice a year.

For more information about ITA membership and the benefits of membership, click here.

Academic Council
The ITA Academic Council is an advisory body comprised of international arbitration law professors and scholars. The Academic Council supports the work of ITA through its members' participation in ITA programs and publications, including development of the ITA educational video series, International Commercial Arbitration.

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