Will you save my seat? Selecting a seat of arbitration: what is the best approach for commercial contracts?

Competition for international arbitration legal business has never been stronger. Arbitration hubs, and associated institutions, continue to jostle for work and reference data showing ever-increasing demand.  But recent legal and geopolitical developments have arguably nudged London back to the fore of high-profile commercial arbitrations, especially those involving banks. A few factors have arguably contributed to this pull: the active role of the English courts in issuing anti-suit injunctions to protect arbitration clauses where Russian parties had sought to initiate proceedings in Russia; the challenge of arbitrators on conflicts grounds; and the recent review of the Arbitration Act 1996, which forms part of the legislative programme of the new UK Labour Government.

But do the perceived advantages of a London seat really stand up to scrutiny? Would a low-cost jurisdiction, with an agile supervisory court, be a more attractive seat? Should there be greater diversity of seats? In an increasingly homogenised legal market, does it even matter which seat you select anymore?  

Our distinguished panel of international speakers will debate these issues, offering views from a practitioner's perspective, an arbitrator's perspective and a business perspective.  

5:30 p.m. Registration
6:00 p.m. Debate begins
7:00 p.m. Networking and drinks

Location
Mayer Brown, 201 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3AF

Please join us for a lively debate.