Events

The Center co-hosts a Conference on the effects of Brazil’s adoption of the CISG

On Nov. 26th and 27th, the Center will co-host a conference on the effects of the CISG’s adoption in Brazil. Scholars from Brazil, Europe and the U.S. will discuss the impact the coming into force of the CISG will have in Brazil and the differences that exist between the CISG and Brazilian law. This event is one of a series of events that the Center has co-hosted around the world on issues relating to international sales law.

Tug of War: The Tension Between Regulation and International Cooperation

The NYU Center for Transnational Litigation and Commercial Law, the NYU Journal of International Law and Politics and the NYU International Law Society are pleased to invite you to the 18th Annual Herbert Rubin And Justice Rose Luttan Rubin International Law Symposium:

Tug of War: The Tension Between Regulation and International Cooperation
Thursday, October 25th, 9:00am – 4:30pm
Greenberg Lounge, NYU School of Law, 40 Washington Square South

An all day symposium featuring internationally recognized practitioners, academics, and judges, including former U.K. Supreme Court Justice Lord Collins of Mapesbury and Judge Diane P. Wood of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Registration is free. 5 CLE CREDITS AVAILABLE!

Contentious issues arise at every stage of transnational litigation from initial jurisdictional inquiries all the way to  judgment recognition and enforcement.  In this sense, transnational litigation is the nexus of law, business, and international politics.  “Tug of War” will examine how U.S. courts balance our regulatory interest against the need for international cooperation throughout the transnational litigation process. We will focus on situations where the tension is most controversial, including:
•             forum non conveniens dismissal
•             the application of foreign law
•             judgment enforcement and recognition, and
•             the effect of corruption in foreign courts.
With every issue, we will question whether the status quo is working and the extent to which it can be improved through changes in practices and procedures.

Speakers and moderators will include:
•             Lord Collins of Mapesbury, former Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.K.
•             Judge Diane P. Wood, U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit
•             Prof. Louise Ellen Teitz, First Secretary, Hague Conference on Private International Law
•             Prof. Steven B. Burbank, University of Pennsylvania Law School
•             Prof. Samuel P. Baumgartner, University of Akron School of Law
•             Prof. Ronald A. Brand, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
•             Prof. Peter “Bo” Rutledge, University of Georgia School of Law
•             Prof. Matthew J. Wilson, University of Wyoming College of Law
•             John Fellas, Hughes Hubbard & Reed
•             John B. Bellinger III, Arnold & Porter
•             Prof. Linda J. Silberman, NYU School of Law
•             Prof. Franco Ferrari, NYU School of Law
•             Prof. José E. Alvarez, NYU School of Law

To register, visit http://nyulaw.imodules.com/tugofwar.

For more information and the agenda visit http://nyujilp.org/symposia/tug-of-war/

Jurisdiction of North-American Courts: When Will the Long Arm Reach You?

Professor Linda Silberman, Co-Director of the Center, will speak on 29 May 2012, at an event at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, chaired by former S.Ct. Justice Lawrence Collins, who will be Fellow at Center in October. Mr.  Alex Layton, former Fellow of the Center, will also speak. More information can be found here.

The non-enforcement of arbitral awards: A BIT (of a) problem with human rights and damage calculation

This is to announce the March 2012 session of the Arbitration Forum of the Center for Transnational Litigation and Commercial Law, entitled “The non-enforcement of arbitral awards: A BIT (of a) problem with human rights and damage calculation” which will take place on Monday, March 26th, 2012, from 6.15 p.m. to 8.00 p.m., in the Lester Pollack Colloquium Room, Furman Hall 900 (245 Sullivan Street, New York, NY 10012).

It is a great pleasure to be able to announce that on the occasion of this session, which is co-hosted by the New York/Washington D.C. Chapter of the Spanish Arbitration Club, Dr. Stefan Kröll will give a talk on “International commercial arbitration awards as “investment” under BITs” and that Mr. José Alberro will speak on “Estimating damages when BITs are used to enforce commercial arbitration awards”. Mr. Brian King and Grant Hanessian agreed to act as commentators.

Dr. Stefan Kröll is one of the leading German experts on arbitration and a national correspondent for Germany to UNCITRAL for arbitration and international commercial law. He sits regularly as an arbitrator in national and international cases (ICC, DIS, VIAC, ad-hoc) and is member of the board of editors of several peer reviewed journals. Dr. Kröll is a Visiting Lecturer at the Bucerius Law School and Visiting Reader at the School of International Arbitration at CCLS (Queen Mary, University of London). He has published widely in the field of international commercial arbitration and commercial law, including the books “Comparative International Commercial Arbitration” (co-authored with Lew/Mistelis), “Arbitration in Germany – The Model Law in Practice” (co-edited with Böckstiegel/Nacimiento) and “Conflict of Laws in International Arbitration” (co-edited with Ferrari). Recently, he has been retained by UNCITRAL as one of the three experts to prepare the Digest on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.

Dr. Jose Alberro, who holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago, has taught as tenured full professor economics at universities in the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom for 15 years. Dr. Alberro’s expertise focuses on applied economic and financial modeling; he has consulting experience across a wide variety of industries, with particular depth in the areas of energy, oil, petrochemicals, consumer goods, and network industries (telecommunications, natural gas, electricity). His expertise not only led him to give expert testimony in commercial and investor state arbitrations on damage valuation, most recently in The Hague, in the context of a multi-billion dollar case resulting from the confiscation of hydrocarbon assets, but also to his appointment as arbitrator in ICSID proceedings. Dr. Alberro, who is a member of the AAA’s National Roster of Arbitrators, he has published extensively in academic journals; one of his publications was cited in the 1995 Nobel Prize in Economics Lecture.

Brian King is a partner in the international arbitration group at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.  Prior to returning to New York in 2007, he headed the arbitration group in the firm’s Amsterdam office for seven years.  Mr. King’s practice centers on acting as counsel or arbitrator in investment treaty and international commercial disputes. He has represented both investors and States, as well as some of the largest European and U.S. corporations.  A 1990 graduate of the NYU Law School, Mr. King regularly speaks and publishes on arbitration-related topics.

Grant Hanessian is Co-Chair of Baker & McKenzie’s International Arbitration Practice Group and Chair of the Litigation/Dispute Resolution Department of the firm’s New York office.  A graduate of NYU Law School, Mr. Hanessian has more than 25 years experience acting as counsel or arbitrator in international commercial and investment treaty arbitrations.  Mr. Hanessian is a member of the Commission on Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce and the ICC Task Force on Arbitration Involving States or State Entities and has published extensively on international arbitration topics.

Please note that all discussions taking place during the Forum are subject to the Chatham House Rule.

Since space is limited, those interested are kindly asked to R.S.V.P. by March 22nd (by sending an email to Prof. Franco Ferrari at franco.ferrari@nyu.edu). On-site registration will not be available.

Franco Ferrari

Multi-party Arbitration: From Paris to New York

This is to announce the February 2012 session of the Arbitration Forum of the Center for Transnational Litigation and Commercial Law, entitled “Multi-party Arbitration:  From Paris to New York,” which will take place on Monday, February 27th, 2012, from 6.15 p.m. to 8.00 p.m., in the Lester Pollack Colloquium Room, Furman Hall 900 (245 Sullivan Street, New York, NY 10012).

It is a great pleasure to be able to announce that on the occasion of this session, which is co-hosted by the New York/Washington D.C. Chapter of the Spanish Arbitration Club, Professor Bernardo M. Cremades will give a talk on “Multi-party Arbitration under the New ICC Rules” and Mr. Joseph E. Neuhaus will speak about “Class Arbitration in the U.S. in the wake of Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds Int’l Corp. and AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion.” Professors George A. Bermann and Loukas Mistelis will act as commentators for both presentations.

Professor Bernardo M. Cremades is the founding and managing partner of the law firm B. Cremades & Associates. Mr. Cremades acts as a highly respected arbitrator in both domestic and international disputes, including commercial and investment protection arbitration. He is also a lauded Professor at Madrid University and is devoted to training the next generation of lawyers in the field of arbitration. Mr. Cremades has served as Co-Chair of the International Financial and Secured Transactions Committee of the American Bar Association and as Co-Chair of the Arbitration and ADR Committee of the International Bar Association, as well as President of the Global Center for Dispute Resolution and as Vice President of the London Court of Arbitration. He is author of a number of books and publications related to international arbitration.

Mr. Joseph E. Neuhaus has been a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP since 1992. His practice is focused on international commercial litigation in both arbitral and court settings, with particular emphasis on Latin American matters. Mr. Neuhaus, who is coordinator of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP’s arbitration practice, has served as counsel and arbitrator in many arbitral proceedings, including ad hoc proceedings and arbitrations administered by the International Chamber of Commerce and the American Arbitration Association. He is also the author of numerous publications in the field of international arbitration and he is currently serving as one of the two private-sector advisers to the United States’ delegation to the UNCITRAL Working Group on Arbitration.

Professor George A. Bermann is the Walter Gelhorn Professor of Law, the Jean Monnet Professor of European Union Law, and the Director of the European Legal Studies Center at Columbia Law School, as well as a Visiting Professor of the Institut des Sciences Politiques (Sciences Po) in Paris, France. He is also the Chief Reporter of American Legal Institute’s Restatement of the Law of International Commercial Arbitration, the former President of the American Society of Comparative Law, the past editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Comparative Law and the current President of the International Academy of Comparative Law.

Professor Loukas Mistelis, LLB, MLE, Dr Iuris, MCIArb, Advocate, is the Clive Schmitthoff Professor of Transnational Commercial Law and Arbitration, as well as the Director of the School of International Arbitration, at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies of Queen Mary University of London. Professor Mistelis, who acts regularly as arbitrator or expert in international commercial and investment disputes, is the author of twelve books and more than 55 articles. He is also a member of the editorial boards of Arbitration International, Journal of International Dispute Settlement and Global Arbitration Review. In addition, he serves as general editor of the World Arbitration Reporter.

Please note that all discussions taking place during the Forum are subject to the Chatham House Rule.

Space is limited and thus those interested are kindly asked to R.S.V.P. by February 20th, 2012. On-site registration will not be available.

Forum of the Center for Transnational Litigation and Commercial Law

This is to announce the November session of the Forum of the Center for Transnational Litigation and Commercial Law, which will take place on November 28th, 2011, from 6.15-8.00 pm., in Lester Pollack Colloquium Room, Furman Hall 900, 245 Sullivan Street, New York, NY 10012.

It is a great pleasure to be able to announce that Prof. Bo Rutledge has accepted the invitation to give a talk on the topic “International Civil Litigation in US courts in the last five years” that Mr. Alexander Layton and Professor Linda Silberman have agreed to act as commentators.

Professor Rutledge is a Professor of Law at the University of Georgia School of Law.  His research interests include international litigation, international arbitration and the United States Supreme Court.  He is the author of several books and book chapters which have been published by Yale University Press, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and others.  His articles have appeared in a diverse array of journals including the University of Chicago Law Review, the Vanderbilt Law Review and the Journal of International Arbitration.  Professor Rutledge has filed more than twenty briefs and petitions in the United States Supreme Court and lower courts on topics such as arbitration, international litigation and criminal law.  Respected by his peers abroad, he also has lectured at a diverse array of institutions including Oxford University, Cambridge University, the London School of Economics, Stockholm University, the University of Mainz and the University of Oslo, among others.  This will be his first public lecture at New York University.

Mr. Alexander Layton is an English Queen’s Counsel (barrister) and a specialist in private international law, practicing from 20 Essex Street chambers in London. He has acted in a number of important cases in this field, including representing the United Kingdom government before the European Court of Justice in the well-known West Tankers case on anti-suit injunctions in support of international arbitration. He is the co-author of European Civil Practice, which has become a standard work on the European regime for  jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters, and this year acted as an expert assisting the European Parliament with its legislative work on a revision of the Brussels I Regulation on this topic. He is also the author of various other papers and book chapters on private international law issues. He has recently completed a six-year term as the chair of trustees of the British Institute of International and Comparative law, where he has been instrumental in establishing the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law. He is also a past-chairman of the British-German Jurists’ Association and of the Bar European Group.

Professor Linda J. Silberman is the Martin Lipton Professor of Law at New York University and Co-Director of the Center. She is a leading figure in the United States in private international law and transnational litigation, and her academic and scholarly interests range from numerous areas of commercial law to personal and family matters. At NYU Professor Silberman teaches a range of courses, including Civil Procedure, Comparative Procedure, Conflict of Laws, International Litigation/Arbitration and International Commercial Arbitration.  She is co-author of an important Civil Procedure casebook (now in its 3rd edition) and of a recent book on Comparative Civil Procedure.  She was the co-Reporter for the American Law Institute Project–Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments: Analysis and Proposed Federal Statute, and an adviser to two other American Law Institute projects: Intellectual Property: Principles Governing Jurisdiction, Choice of Law and Judgments in Transnational Disputes and the Restatement Third on International Commercial Arbitration. Professor Silberman is also a Member of the State Department’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law and has been a member of numerous U.S. State Department delegations to the Hague Conference. Professor Silberman combines her scholarship and academic work with other roles, such as special referee, expert witness and consultant in a number of important cases. Her work was cited by the Supreme Court of the United States in two recent Supreme Court decisions.

Please note that all discussions taking place during the Forum are subject to the Chatham House Rule.

As only limited space will be available, those interested are kindly asked to rsvp by November 20th by writing to transnational@nyu.edu.

Forum on “A Theory of Party Autonomy in the Conflict of Laws”

On 26 September 2011, the Center will host a talk by Professor Jürgen Basedow, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law and Professor of Law at the University of Hamburg, on “A Theory of Party Autonomy in the Conflict of Laws”.

A century ago, authors on both sides of the Atlantic would reject the parties’ ability to choose the law applicable to a contract. Such choice was considered to be a legislative act reserved to the state. The private persons were perceived as being governed by the law, not as determining the governing law. A hundred years later party autonomy is almost generally acknowledged as the primary method of finding the law applicable to a contract. And it is progressively recognized in further areas of the law, too: for torts, matrimonial property regimes, divorce, maintenance etc. Yet, the theoretical foundation for this fundamental change remains elusive. How is it then possible to convince the lawmakers of those countries that have not yet implemented party autonomy? A theory of party autonomy has to explain the consistency of our own law in order to convince others. Departing from a comparative survey over party autonomy in modern legislation, Professor Basedow will deal with the main objections against the freedom to elect the applicable law. He will then outline a theoretical approach that is essentially based on the origin of state and law as described by the political philosophy of the Enlightenment and that is reflected by the modern developments of human rights.

The event will take place on 26 September 2011, in Room 214, Furman Hall 900, 245 Sullivan Street, New York, NY 10012, 6.15-8.00 pm.

Conference on “The New French Law on International Arbitration”

On the occasion of the seminar on “The New French Law on International Arbitration”, Professor Catherine Kessedjian will give an overview of the salient features of the new French law. Professor Kessedjian, who is currently a Global Visiting Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, is Director of a Master in European Law and Professor of European Business Law, Private International Law, International Dispute Resolution and International Commercial Arbitration at the University of Panthéon-Assas, Paris II, France. She is regularly invited to teach, in different countries, either at regular programs or as a visiting. She currently acts as mediator or arbitrator in a selected number of transnational disputes either ad hoc or under the auspices of, among others, ICSID, the ICC, LCIA and the AAA. Before joining Paris II, she was Deputy Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (1996-2000), on secondment from the Université de Bourgogne in France.

Arbitration Forum on “The Extraterritorial Effect of Judgments Relating to International Arbitral Awards”

The Center hosted the fifth session of its Arbitration Forum. On that occasion, Dr. Maxi Scherer, Global Hauser Fellow at NYU Law School and Counsel in Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr’s Dispute Resolution team in New York/London gave a talk on “The Extraterritorial  Effect of Judgments Relating to International Arbitral Awards”. Professor Horatia Muir Watt, Professor of Law at Sciences Po in Paris, France, and currently James S. Carpentier Visiting Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, and Professor Catherine Kessedjian, currently a Global Visiting Professor of Law at NYU School of Law, as well as Mr. John Fellas, lawyer at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, New York, acted as commentators. The event took place on April 25th, 2011.

Arbitration Forum on “Transparency in Investment Related Ad Hoc Arbitrations”

The Center, in collaboration with the Investment Law Forum run by Professor Robert Howse, Lloyd C. Nelson Professor at NYU, hosted the third session of its Arbitration Forum. On that occasion, Mr. Mark Kantor and Mr. David Bigge spoke on “Transparency in investment related ad hoc arbitrations”. Mr. Barry Appleton and Professor Robert Howse acted as commentators. The event took place on February 7th, 2011.

Gaillard to speak on “The Legal Theory of International Arbitration”

Professor Emmanuel Gaillard to speak on “The Legal Theory of International Arbitration” at NYU on Sept. 20th The Center will host its first Arbitration Forum. On that occasion, Prof. Emmanuel Gaillard will give a presentation on “The Legal Theory of International Arbitration”. The presentation will be based in part on the introduction to Professor Gaillard’s recent book with the same title, which you can find by clicking here. Columbia Professor George Bermann and NYU Professor Joseph H. Weiler will comment. The event will take place on September 20th, 2010, in the Pollack Colloquium Room, Furman Hall 900, 245 Sullivan Street, New York, NY 10012, 6.15-8.00 pm.

Lecture on “The Draft Common Frame of Reference”

Center hosted a lecture on “The Draft Common Frame of Reference” by Professor Alberto Monti, Associate Professor of Comparative Law at Bocconi University Department of Law, of Milan, Italy, on “The Draft Common Frame of Reference”, on April 12th.