The cost and speed of international arbitration will be discussed at the first meeting of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) Commission on Settlement in International Arbitration today (10 July).
The meeting, which will feature representations from leading international arbitrators, mediators, academics and counsel across 25 jurisdictions, will be co-chaired by the former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf and Schellenberg Wittmer arbitration partner Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler.
The Commission will make a series of recommendations to arbitral institutions and tribunals on how to give parties greater assistance in finding ways to settle disputes earlier and more cost-effectively.
The body was formed amid mouting criticism that arbitration was often proving slow, expensive and with settlement rates significantly lower than in most state commercial proceedings.
The meeting, to be hosted at Herbert Smith’s City headquarters, is the first of three expected to take place, with the findings set to be published in a White Paper next year.
Lord Woolf was among four recent high-profile mediators to join the CEDR Solve Direct panel alongside Clifford Chance London managing partner Jeremy Sandelson.
