Tuesday, 2 July 2019, Riverbank House, London

9.00: Welcome coffee and registration

9.30: Chairs’ opening remarks

Kate Davies, Allen & Overy
James Loftis, Vinson & Elkins

9.40: Session one: Enforcement experiences and trends – is the final award now the new starting point?

Challenges in investor-state arbitrations are now more or less expected.  Are unsuccessful parties increasingly challenging commercial awards, too? Is this a trend and, if it is, is it confined to “mega-arbitrations”?

Topics our esteemed panel are expected to discuss include:

• A review of the last year’s pending and new challenges
• The developments with Achmea and ECT and the likely effects on enforcement;
• Is the size of the enforcement award a risk factor and is there anything we can do about it?
• Are trends visible and if so how do we define them?

10.55: Coffee break

11.30: Session two: The GAR Live Question Time for arbitrators

A twist on our usual Tylney Hall format. A panel of distinguished arbitrators will discuss the questions listed below, and others submitted by the audience and moderator in advance of the session.

Questions our esteemed panel are expected to discuss are:

• Does “enforcement fear” lead tribunals to weak responses and breaches of agreed procedures?
• Are corruption issues capable of being handled in arbitration in a procedurally efficient and fair manner?
• Would dispositive issue determinations improve “grand arbitrations?

12.45: Networking lunch  

14.00: Session three: Disputes in developing economies and legal frameworks: examples from Africa 

This session discusses Africa’s increasing integration into the international arbitration system and focuses on the issues that arise when that system is used in developing economies and legal frameworks. 

Questions the panel will cover include:

• Why are parallel court proceedings so prevalent and how do you mitigate the risks?
• What are the solutions for cross-border hydrocarbon field development in the absence of clear borders?
• How to deal with government corruption in a fair manner?

15.15: Coffee break

15.45: Session four: Managing energy disputes with reputational risk

The risks that energy companies face are becoming increasingly removed from commercial relationships; they can be found outside of the four corners of their contracts and to some degree outside of their governmental and regulatory frameworks. Furthermore, the impact of risks are increasingly encroaching beyond the merely financial.  

Some of the topics our esteemed panel are expected to discuss include: 

• Human rights violations within the energy sector;
• Increasing instances of corruption claims in energy disputes;
• The role played by environmental allegations in disputes; and

• Climate change, the Paris Agreement and the ICC Task Force on Climate Change

17.15: Chairs' closing remarks

Kate Davies, Allen & Overy
James Loftis, Vinson & Elkins

For further information or sponsorship opportunities, please call +44 203 780 4137 or email events@globalarbitrationreview.com