Americas Initiative

ITA established its Americas Initiative in 2003 focusing originally on Latin America, and was later expanded to Canada (2018) and Caribbean (2021-Caribbean Task Force), covering both continents.

The mission of the Americas Initiative is to enrich knowledge, debate, and personal relationships within the international arbitration community in the Americas.

Americas Initiative members serve the international arbitration community by exploring opportunities, developing activities, increasing awareness, and promoting excellence in the practice of international arbitration. The geographical coverage of the Americas Initiative provides a unique setting for practitioners from Latin America, the Caribbean, US, and Canada to interact within the framework of its specific programs and working groups.

Since 2005, the Americas Initiative has offered an annual Americas Workshop, as well as an annual Young Lawyers Americas Roundtable, throughout the Americas. These yearly conferences were held in Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Panama City, Santiago and São Paulo, among others, and online during 2020, 2021 and 2022. Since 2018, the Workshop has been conducted together with Latin American Arbitration Association (ALARB).

In 2014, together with the ALARB and the Brazilian Arbitration Committee (CBAr), the ITA launched the ITA Latin American Arbitration Forum (ITAFOR). ITAFOR is a primarily Spanish/Portuguese language listserv, which has quickly become the leading online forum for arbitration practitioners.

The Americas Initiative is a standing practice committee of the ITA Advisory Board, open to all Advisory Board members as well as to all interested in establishing and fostering professional dialog with arbitration practitioners in the Americas.