Author: Guillermo Coronado Aguilar

The Mooting experience is one of a kind, and these days can be made either in person or a la distance, never miss the chance to put yourself to the test, especially in the oral hearings part, being in front of a panel of arbitrators is one of a kind experience, is like a roller-coaster were you have the opportunity to try your oral skills.

However, given the social distancing policies occurring around the globe the experience of having oral hearings in person might become somewhat difficult to have, but there is always a good side of the spectrum.

Being on site for oral hearings means that a lot of energy must be put forward, and especially for those that are studying and are on a budget, traveling expenses are a hurdle that is quite hard to overcome.

The good side, given the current times, you can circumvent somehow such financial struggle, there is no need to travel to be part of such great experience, yes I know, it might not be the same, however, don’t miss the chance.

Take the opportunity to register to the different Moots taking place in the virtual form, like the prestigious and world known Willem C. Vis Moot, which given the pandemic, will be hosting the 2nd ever Virtual Vis Moot.

So if you didn’t have the opportunity to be part of the Vis Moot due to some financial struggles, this might be an excellent time to take part of this amazing journey. At the end of the day, this virtual experience of conducting or being part of oral hearings taking place virtually is something that you will experience in real arbitrations.

Don’t miss the chance and be part of this great Moot competition!

As I said before, there are many strategies to make way into the great world of international disputes, one of these strategies is to be part of writing competitions, some of them are dedicated to actually writing arbitral awards, and others directed at an academic level. Both are great opportunities to train yourself in one of the elements that are needed within arbitration, and in general to every lawyer, which is writing!

An excellent opportunity is the Young ITA (Institute for Transnational Arbitration) Writing Competition “New Voices in International Arbitration”, this competition happens every year, and if you get to win, well you are awarded USD $3,000.00, books by Kluwer, and USD $1,500.00 for traveling expenses in order to be part of the ITA anual meeting taking place in Dallas every June.

But, to be part of this writing competition you need to be part of Young ITA, but do not be afraid, it is actually for free until you become less younger and turn 40, so if you are in your 20s and 30s, you can be part of Young ITA at no cost, and this will also help in your involvement to institutions that are active in the arbitration world.

To find out more and how to register click here choose the option Young ITA and get involved into all the great events happening with them.

As to the nits and bits of the competition you need to follow these basic rules:

1 Minimum 3,500 words up to 25,000 words, excluding footnotes

2 You can choose any theme that you like regarding commercial or investment arbitration

3 The deadline is 15th January, so you have enough time!

4 Must be written in English.

5 Need to be submitted in word and pdf formats to ita@cailaw.org

My recommendation is that you try to be part of this writing competition every now and then, so you can train yourself in one precious aspect of the legal profession. You will kill two birds with one stone, train yourself on your writing skills and second, be part of a community of young arbitrators!

I wish you all the best!

Making your way into this so-called small club of a few players Even if it might be true, I am of the idea that the more the merrier, the more people are acquainted with arbitration, especially lawyers and practitioners, and the more arbitral clauses there are to help in the faster resolution of disputes at the international and national levels.

How to make way in this world remains a great question, either for someone just starting in the legal field, or someone that wants to change paths within law.

The starting point might be to choose while studying your LL.B. a course that includes the subject of Alternative Dispute Resolution or ADRs, as it is commonly known these set of tools for dispute resolution or to choose a course exclusively directed at Commercial Arbitration, and in conjunction joining a Moot Competition team.

However, if there is no type of courses in your LL.B. at your university, you still can find courses offered in the summer by different universities or as MOOC Courses.

In my case I was fortunate enough to have both, the possibility to have a course on ADRs and the other to be part of a Moot team.

Given that today traveling is quite restricted, you can find different online offers, one of these offers is provided by the University of Leiden, and the Course International Law in Action: the Arbitration of International Disputes, this course gives you a broad perspective of what is international law and what can be understood of international disputes, but the focus is more on the public international law side, instead of private international law, however, it is highly recommended and bang for the buck.

But, if you want to get more serious in your path towards arbitration, you can be part of the summer programs a la distance given by the different Universities and Arbitration Centers, a good example of these are the well known courses developed by the Center of International Commercial Arbitration by the American University Washington College of Law, despite the price tag per program it is worth every penny, due to the great professors involved in such a program.

So, even if you are part of a Moot team or your university offers a course within your LL.B. it does not hurt to deepen your understanding of arbitration and international disputes having exclusive courses on the matter, the above are just examples of many more.

There you go, I hope this can help in your path for breaking into arbitration!

Dear reader, let me introduce this new venture called, blogging about arbitration and international dispute settlement.

Yes it is another blog out the millions around internet this days. And yes it is another initiative about arbitration, as many other great initiatives out there, you name it: blogs, Youtube channels, podcasts, Law Journals, web pages, associations, etcetera.

However, this one, seeks to be the place for you to find answers ranging from the practical level on what is arbitration, to more technical aspects about dealing with arbitration in general.

This means, that you will find the different issues to be dealt here more readable and accesible giving you all the possible insights for your journey in this fascinating world of arbitration and in general terms international dispute settlement.

This means that we will explore issues from commercial arbitration, investment arbitration, state to state arbitration, meaning disputes taking place in other types of forums. However, the main agenda is to help you in finding your way in this exciting world of international dispute settlement, which is broader than you actually think.

Enjoy the read!

Long ago I read an article by Mark Kantor, who wrote an article on “how to break into Arbitration?” It was quite a great post, and it is a great guideline for the many institutions out there involved in international arbitration, mainly commercial arbitration.

Such a question is often made by young lawyers and young practitioners, I will give you some insights that can help you in taking decisive steps in order for you to be part of this world of international dispute resolution.

The world of international arbitration is quite luring, one day a dear colleague told me that international arbitration was like being in an adventure, with top notch practitioners around the globe. Certainly, it is a way to show your skills to your fellow colleagues. Like be part of this college like in Hogwarts in one of Harry Potter’s adventures..

And actually it is. It is quite a remarkable adventure that once you are part of it you get hooked by it. You want to ride again and again.

But well, how do you actually break into arbitration, as I said before this is not a one way street, it has many paths and every story is different. One day I did such a question to an established arbitrator his words were quite to the point, “focus into being a good lawyer”, if you are a good lawyer people will come to you.

So for starters be a good lawyer. What does that mean? You already know.

Aside of becoming a good lawyer, also you need to take into account couple of practical pointers so you can try so you can be part of this college of arbitrators and practitioners to international dispute resolution.

First, if you are a student, be part of a Moot Arbitration Competition, there are plenty around the globe, within your country, your region or at an international level. You just need to explore which competitions you can be part of. The most famous are the FDI Moot on Foreign Direct Investment Arbitration, and the Willem C. Vis Moot. After you finish the competition try to get involved with the associations that are formed of former alumni to such competitions, like the Vis Moot that has the Moot Alumni Association (MAA).

If you are no longer a student at a bachelor’s level or a master’s student, then try to be part of such competitions as an arbitrator, certainly what you need to be is a good lawyer, you can get the grip of how arbitrations take place. Fly under the wing of the most experience arbitrators by sitting as a co-arbitrator in such moot court competitions.

Also, another way is to be part of associations for international arbitration and dispute resolution, an example of this type is International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), be part of the conferences they have, or also try to register yourself with a local association for arbitration, the list develop by Mark Kantor comes really handy.

If you are under 40, then try to be part of the principal associations for young arbitrators, like the International Chamber of Commerce Young Arbitrators Forum (ICC-YAF) which is one of the most active around the globe with multiple conferences occurring year round, likewise is the Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG) from the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). Also the ICCA has a section for young lawyers known as YoungICCA.

Other options that we will explore later on are studying a master program in dispute resolution and also becoming part of a litigation team that has arbitration within their areas of practice.