35th Annual ITA Workshop and Annual Meeting

Overview

The ITA Workshop and Annual Meeting is widely recognized as the leading conference in the field in the United States. Make your plans now to join us, our renowned faculty, members of the ITA community and other colleagues from around the globe for what is sure to be a feast of learning and a memorable experience in Austin, the heart of Texas!

Introduction to the Workshop

Ubi Jus Ibi Remedium.  “Wherever there is a right, there is a remedy.”  This 35^th Annual ITA Workshop examines how the system of international arbitration gives effect to the legal rights of the parties by granting effective and enforceable remedies.  The Workshop considers the perspectives of parties, counsel, and arbitrators regarding the power and practice of arbitral tribunals in awarding remedies, including non-monetary remedies.  The Workshop considers whether the current legal framework governing international arbitration meets the needs and expectations of its users with respect to remedies or whether systemic changes are needed to ensure that international arbitration can deliver effective redress for disputing parties.

Workshop Co-Chairs

Dr. Diane A. Desierto
University of Notre Dame Law School
Notre Dame

Rachael D. Kent
WilmerHale
Washington, D.C.

Thomas Voisin
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
Paris

Young ITA Roundtable Chair

Catherine Bratic
Hogan Lovells US LLP
Houston

Schedule and Faculty

3:30 - Welcome to the Workshop

Tomasz J. Sikora, Chair, ITA Advisory Board, Senior Counsel International Disputes, Houston

YOUNG ITA ROUNDTABLE

Presented by
YOUNG ITA

3:40 - Welcome to the Roundtable

Catherine Bratic, Chair, Young ITA, Hogan Lovells US LLP, Houston

3:45 - Remedies Around the World: A Comparative Law Look at National Law Approaches to Contractual Remedies in International Arbitration

A panel of Young ITA members will discuss various national law approaches to contractual remedies in international arbitration, with an emphasis on the differences in the availability and use of non-monetary remedies such as restitution, specific performance, declaratory relief, reformation/gap-filling, and injunctive relief.

Moderator: Mark Stadnyk, Squire Patton Boggs, Houston

Panelists:

• Karolina Czarnecka, Queritus, Warsaw
  
• Ruxandra Irina Esanu, Dechert LLP, Paris
• Karima Sauma, DJ Arbitraje, San José, Costa Rica
• Joshua Wan, DLA Piper, New York

4:35 - Beyond Monetary Damages: What Do Empirical Studies Tell Us About the Use of Non-Monetary Relief in International Arbitration?

Digging into data and empirical studies, and drawing on anecdotal evidence, a panel of Young ITA reporters will discuss what we can glean about the use of non-monetary remedies in international arbitration. How often are such measures requested? How often are they awarded? And lastly, how readily are such measures actually enforced?

Moderator: Dr. Crina Baltag, Professor, Stockholm University, Stockholm

Panelists:

• Paul Di Pietro, Counsel, ICC, New York
  
• Ioana Knoll-Tudor, Jeantet, Paris
• Mallory Silberman, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.

5:25 - Closing Remarks

5:30-6:30 - Workshop Welcome Reception at the Hyatt Regency Austin

Thursday, June 15

8:00 am - Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00 - Welcome Back

Tom Sikora, Chair, ITA Advisory Board, Senior Counsel International Disputes, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Houston

9:05 - Introduction to the Program

Rachael Kent, Workshop Co-Chair, WilmerHale, Washington, D.C.

9:10 - Workshop Dialogue: What Do Users Need From Remedies?

This session will feature a dialogue between two leading in-house counsel focusing on the international business view of arbitration remedies, ranging from the suitability of arbitral remedies to industry needs, circumstances where non-monetary remedies are preferred and prioritized, and party considerations over the cross-border enforceability of arbitral remedies throughout jurisdictions around the world.

• Mimi M. Lee, Managing Counsel, Litigation, Chevron Upstream, San Ramon
• Tom Sikora, Senior Counsel International Disputes, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Houston

9:40 - Workshop Keynote: Money Talks, But Action Speaks Louder Than Words: Some Observations On Non-Monetary Remedies In International Arbitration

Abby Cohen Smutny, White & Case LLP, Washington, D.C.

10:10 - Coffee Break

10:30 - The Full Scope Of Arbitral Power To Award Relief

This Panel will feature leading international arbitration practitioners and international arbitrators, who will discuss the sources and limits of arbitral power to award effective relief to disputing parties. The Panel will also consider constraints or influences on arbitral power from treaties, national laws, arbitral rules, and arbitration agreements, alongside the disputing parties’ prayer for relief and the inherent power of arbitral tribunals to award appropriate relief. Finally, the Panel will address challenges faced by arbitration tribunals in complex disputes involving difficult empirical verification or quantification of damages, party claims for rebalancing or adjustment of disputed contractual arrangements, and the possibilities for bespoke design of remedies beyond settled international legal categories of restitution, compensation, and satisfaction.

Moderator: Dr. Diane Desierto, University of Notre Dame Law School, Notre Dame

Panelists:

• Prof. Charles H. Brower II, Wayne State University, Detroit
• James E. Castello, King & Spalding International LLP, Paris
• Isabelle Michou, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, Paris
• Sarah Vasani, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, London

11:40 - Workshop Debate: “Resolved, That Arbitrators Can And Do Award Effective Redress To Disputing Parties”

The ITA Workshop Debate, introduced for the 35th anniversary of the ITA Workshop, features a leading international arbitrator squaring-off with a current or former national or international court judge, on the question of whether arbitrators have, and are willing to use, tools for awarding effective remedies. This moderated presidential-style Debate will touch on questions of: 1) the usefulness of non-monetary remedies and whether arbitrators are more or less able and willing to award non-monetary remedies than national court judges; 2) whether arbitrators are more or less able than judges to effectively assess and award monetary remedies; and 3) ultimately, whether arbitrators, apart from national courts, can deliver suitable and expeditious redress in international disputes.

Moderator: Noradele Radjai, LALIVE, Geneva

Debaters: 

• John Crook, George Washington University School of Law; Former Member, NATO Administrative Tribunal, Washington, D.C.
• Lucinda A. Low, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Washington, D.C.

12:30 - Workshop Luncheon

2:15 - How the Arbitral Process Affects the Availability and Effectiveness of Monetary and Non-Monetary Relief

This Workshop Panel will discuss the need for an efficient and swift arbitration process in awarding non-monetary remedies. In many instances, non-monetary remedies are ruled out because they are incompatible with the duration of a standard arbitration. The panel will discuss the tools available to practitioners to speed up the arbitration process (summary judgment, expedited proceedings etc.) and their limitations. The panel will also discuss the key role of provisional relief in awarding non-monetary damages as final relief, and the issues that it raises.

Moderator: Thomas Voisin, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, Paris

Panelists:

• Roberto J. Aguirre Luzi, King & Spalding LLP, Houston
• Stephen P. Anway, Squire Patton Boggs, New York/Washington, D.C.
• Caline Mouawad, Chaffetz Lindsey, New York
• Anne Véronique Schlaepfer, White & Case LLP, Geneva

3:05 - Coffee Break

3:25 - Enforcement And Other Issues Arising From Awards Granting Non-Monetary Remedies

This Workshop Panel will look at issues arising from awards that grant non-monetary relief, for enforcement purposes, and in complex disputes. The Workshop Panel will closely examine issues that arise in the competent jurisdiction to enforce such awards (e.g., national courts, enforcement within the ICSID framework and, in some instances, with arbitral tribunals themselves). The Panel will also discuss the issues of res judicata and parallel defensive remedies, among others, in the context of non-monetary remedies, and whether these collateral questions influence how parties frame requests for arbitral relief.

Moderator: Klaus Reichert SC, Brick Court Chambers, London

Panelists:

• Steven K. Davidson, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Washington, D.C.
  
• Barton Legum, Honlet Legum Arbitration, Paris
• Franz T. Schwarz, Wilmer Hale, London

4:15 - The Era Of Arbitral Reform: How Effective Is The Status Quo From The Standpoint Of Arbitral Remedies?

This Concluding Panel for the Workshop will feature eminent arbitrators, arbitration-related in-house counsel, and arbitration practitioners taking a topographic view of arbitral remedies to assess their overall effectiveness for party dispute resolution needs, given the current system and push for reform of national laws, arbitral rules, and arbitral practices.

Moderator: Rachael Kent, WilmerHale, Washington, D.C.

Panelists:

• Julie Bédard, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, New York/São Paulo
• Prof. George A. Bermann, Columbia University School of Law, New York
• Teresa Garcia-Reyes, Vice President - Litigation, Baker Hughes, Houston
• David W. Rivkin, Arbitration Chambers, New York/London

5:20 - Concluding Remarks

• Thomas Voisin, Workshop Co-Chair, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, Paris

6:30-8:00 - Workshop Dinner (optional)

Wu Chow
IBC Bank Plaza, 500 W 5th St.

Hotel Information

Book Your Hotel

CLE Credit

This program is approved by the State Bar of Texas for a total of 7.0 hours, no ethics. Course ID Number: 174199301. Credit hours for other states will vary and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules.

For this conference, ITA will directly apply (if requested) for course accreditation in the following states: California, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and Virginia. Some of these states may not approve a program for credit hours before the program occurs. Attorneys may be eligible to receive CLE credit through reciprocity or attorney self-submission in other states. Attorneys filing by self-submission in certain states may be required to pay an additional fee. ITA conferences are typically accredited by all mandatory CLE states.

Other Activities for ITA Advisory Board Members and Guests

Wednesday, June 14

6:45-8:45 pm - Advisory Board Reception and Annual Dinner Meeting

Foothills Ballroom
Hyatt Regency Austin

(Reception 6:45-7:15) (Dinner 7:15-8:45)

Friday, June 16

7:45 am - ITA Americas Initiative Annual Meeting

9:00 am - ITA Forum

The ITA Forum is an informal, off-the-record discussion of current developments and concerns in international arbitration among ITA members, Workshop faculty, and special guests. The agenda for this open discussion is determined by the participants. Please click here to submit your questions or topics in advance for discussion at the Forum.

10:15 am - Break

10:45 am - ITA Forum, continued

12:00 pm - Adjourn

Hill Country Networking Adventure

Other Information

VISA Information

If you require a letter of invitation to obtain a visa for travel to the United States to attend our conference, registration must be completed and paid in full before a letter may be requested.  A copy of your registration/payment receipt must accompany your request.  The invitation letter will only be sent by email to the address you provide during registration.  If you apply and do not receive a visa, please send a copy of the letter from the consulate so we can cancel your registration and issue a refund.  Please email ita@cailaw.org.

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Registration for or attendance at this event acknowledges consent to be recorded or photographed. We reserve the right to use any photograph/video taken at our events, without the expressed written permission of those included within the photograph/video. We may use the photograph/video in publications or other media material produced, used or contracted including but not limited to: brochures, invitations, books, newspapers, magazines, television, websites, annual reports, newsletters, etc. To ensure the privacy of individuals, images will not be identified using full names or personal identifying information without written approval from the photographed subject.

Nondiscriminatory Policy

The Center for American and International Law does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected status in educational activities, scholarship programs or admissions.

CIArb Accelerated Route to Fellowship Program, June 12-13

Also this week: The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, North American Branch, will present its Accelerated Route to Fellowship Program in Austin on June 12-13, immediately preceding the Workshop. ITA members and Workshop registrants are entitled to a $200 registration discount. Click here for details.

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