INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION (2) (ILS370)

Professor Tai-Heng Cheng

Deals with the theory and practice of international arbitration. Disputes between corporations, nation-states, or individuals, are no longer handled solely in the trial courts of their home jurisdictions but instead increasingly through arbitration across national borders. Because at the same time the court systems in the United States have not been able to keep up with a "litigation explosion," international arbitrations have grown in number and expanded greatly in subject matter. The course equips students to counsel clients regarding entry into an arbitration clause, to manage arbitral proceedings, and to navigate around court proceedings, which often touch upon, stay, or in some manner affect, arbitrations. Students participate as counsel in mock arbitration hearings, prepare Requests for Arbitration, Answers, Terms of Reference, and draft Final Awards. Guest lecturers from the arbitration world, well-known in their fields, occasionally teach the class, using their current, live-case experiences. Grading is based upon classroom participation and a final paper on an agreed-upon topic.

Prerequisites: Students must have completed Contracts I and II and Civil Procedure.