A best-practices report supports business owners and counsel with practical tips
In celebration of the ICC International Court of Arbitration’s hundredth anniversary, the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR has published a report and guide on different dispute resolution techniques and how to facilitate dispute settlement in international arbitration.
ICC International Court of Arbitration president Claudia Salomon said the new report and guide delivered on one of the commission’s priorities as set out in its centenary declaration of dispute prevention and resolution launched earlier this year – “to drive thought leadership in dispute prevention and resolution through innovative services, best practices, and standards that meet the evolving needs of an ever-wider range of businesses and markets”.
The ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR formed a task force on ADR and arbitration for the publication of both the guide on effective conflict management and report on facilitating settlement in international arbitration. The task force was made of arbitrators, mediators, external counsel, other experienced practitioners, and representatives of corporations and states.
The guide on effective conflict management walked lawyers and parties through different ADR techniques as well as when they were appropriate to use. It also offered practical tips on how to efficiently use ADR techniques to resolve disputes and reduce costs where they became unavoidable both before and after arbitration proceedings had commenced. It also described the available ICC dispute resolution services and the different ways they could be leveraged as standalone or combined mechanisms.
The ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR made sure all its guidance was easy-to-understand in order to better support business managers, decision makers, and in-house and external counsel who could be unfamiliar with the full range of currently available ICC ADR services but wished to adapt the commission’s conflict management strategies to their own circumstances.
“Arbitrators facilitating settlement is a common practice for some, but brand-new territory for most,” said the task force on ADR and arbitration co-chair Christopher Newmark. “Increased interest in this developing role for arbitrators means that all practitioners should know how it can be done effectively and the pitfalls to avoid. Reading the report on settlement facilitation is a good place to start.”
The report on facilitating settlement in international arbitration offered parties and their counsel strategies to promote the settlement of disputes even after arbitration had begun, including how to set up an effective mediation window protocol, which party should set up the idea of a mediation window and why, and how to navigate ‘preliminary views’ and chair ‘settlement conferences’.
“After deep diving into the dispute resolution needs of the global business community and states, the latest ICC Commission’s guide and the report are driven by in-house counsel, for in-house counsel,” said Hélène van Lith, secretary to the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR. “They spotlight the differences and possible interactions between arbitration, mediation, expert determination, neutral evaluation, and dispute. Thanks to the commission’s unique position in the global arbitration and ADR community and beyond, the commission benefitted from different experiences, knowledge, information, and perspectives worldwide and across different sectors.”
