The inaugural Cambridge Arbitration Conference took place on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th March at the Faculty of Law. Organised by the University’s Graduate Law Society, in conjunction with the Faculty, this unique event brought together speakers from more than 12 top law firms and Chambers, as well as the University of Cambridge and UCL.
The event began with a meeting of Young Arbitration Practitioners focusing on the taking of evidence, with Associates from the five sponsoring firms sharing their experiences in this area, and more generally in international arbitration, before answering questions from the audience. This was followed by a drinks reception in the Faculty, providing students with the chance to network with practitioners and representatives from the five sponsoring firms. In attendance were over 100 graduate law students from Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, King’s College London and the London School of Economics, ready to discuss current issues in the fields of Commercial and Investment Arbitration.
The following day began with a panel on "The backlash against investment arbitration", with Partners from a number of firms discussing issues such as the "moral hazard" of investment arbitration, the lack of transparency and possible public interest issues, and the difficulties of enforcement. The second panel focused specifically on enforcement using the New York Convention and whether a "New York Convention 2.0" is needed. The two final panels provided a chance for the speakers to talk more broadly on “Salient Issues” in Investment and Commercial Arbitration respectively. Topics ranged from "Amici curiae in investment arbitration" to "Corruption in international arbitration". Each panel was moderated by one of the LLM students.
The event concluded with drinks and dinner in the picturesque hall of Jesus College (pictured). Following the success of this year’s event, it is very much hoped that the Cambridge Arbitration Conference will become an annual fixture and continue to bring together students and practitioners from across the world to discuss this highly topical area of law.
The Cambridge Arbitration Conference 2014 was generously sponsored by Arnold & Porter, Clifford Chance, King & Spalding, Shearman & Sterling and Volterra Fietta.