With an overburdened and cumbersome system of court litigation, arbitration is becoming an increasingly attractive means of settling disputes. Government enforcement of arbitration agreements and awards is, however, rife with tensions. Among them are tensions between freedom of contract and the need to protect the weak or ill-informed, between the protections of judicial process and the efficiency and responsiveness of more informal justice, between the federal government and the states. Macneil examines the history of the American arbitration law that deals with these and other tensions. He analyzes the personalities and forces that animated the passing of the United States Arbitration Act of 1925, and its later revolutionizing by the Supreme Court. Macneil also discusses how distorted perceptions of arbitration history in turn distort current law.
Arbitration is a method of dispute resolution in which parties agree to submit their dispute to a private, neutral third person, instead of a traditional court with a judge and jury. This private system of arbitration, which is often confidential and secretive, can be a polar opposite, in almost every way, to the public court system. Over the past few decades, arbitration agreements have proliferated throughout American society. Such agreements appear in virtually all types of consumer transactions, and millions of American workers are bound by arbitration agreements in their employment relationships. America has become an "arbitration nation," with an increasing number of disputes taken away from the traditional, open court system and relegated to a private, secretive system of justice. How did arbitration agreements become so widespread, and enforceable, in American society? Prior to the 1920s, courts generally refused to enforce such agreements, and parties had the right to bring their disputes to court. However, during the 1920s, Congress and state legislatures suddenly enacted ground-breaking laws declaring that arbitration agreements are "valid, irrevocable, and enforceable." Drawing on previously untapped archival sources, this book explores the many different people, institutions, forces, beliefs, and events that led to the enactment of modern arbitration laws during the 1920s, and this book examines why America's arbitration laws radically changed during this period. By examining this history, this book demonstrates how the U.S. Supreme Court has grossly misconstrued these laws and unjustifiably created an expansive, informal, private system of justice touching almost every aspect of American society and impacting the lives of millions. Professor Szalai maintains a blog on arbitration at outsourcingjustice.com. "Recommended. General readers, upper-division undergraduate students, and above." -- CHOICE Magazine
The settlement of interstate disputes through recourse to courts and tribunals has grown gradually over the years, not only through the creation of new mechanisms to that effect, but also by using existing courts and tribunals. How these different international dispute settlement mechanisms operate in theory and practice is the subject of this comparative analysis by academic and practicing lawyers. The book takes stock of the procedure applicable in various interstate dispute settlement bodies, including international and regional courts and tribunals, and arbitration. This comparative view is essential to a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the various procedural rules and regulations and the practical operation of international litigation. This book is aimed not only at scholars, but also at the courts and tribunals themselves, assisting them in revising their procedures, and at States and organisations developing future international legal mechanisms.
The International Arbitration Review, edited by James H Carter of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, provides an analytical review of what has occurred in each of the important arbitration jurisdictions during the past year, capturing recent developments and putting them in the context of the jurisdiction's legal arbitration structure and selecting the most important matters for comment. In this book, leading practitioners seek to provide current information on both general international commercial arbitration and international investment arbitration, treating important investor-state dispute developments in each jurisdiction as a separate but closely related topic. There are in-depth examinations of arbitration in 41 jurisdictions as well as editorial chapters on The Impact of Corporate Taxation on Economic Losses, and overviews on ASEAN and Africa. Contributors include: Bart Legum, Michelle Bradfield and Jean-Christophe Honlet, Dentons; James Nicholson, FTI Consulting."e;This new and timely publication promises to tackle pressing and present day global concerns and to make valuable contributions to the ongoing dialogue on international arbitration"e; - Peter Tomka, President, International Court of Justice, The Hague"e;Comprehensive and topical, an excellent reference."e; - Professor Christine Mallin, University of Birmingham Business School"e;The most discursive and engaging survey of the world of arbitration today."e; - Jamie Maples, Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP
International Arbitration in the United States is a comprehensive analysis of international arbitration law and practice in the United States (U.S.). Choosing an arbitration seat in the U.S. is a common choice among parties to international commercial agreements or treaties. However, the complexities of arbitrating in a federal system, and the continuing development of U.S. arbitration law and practice, can be daunting to even experienced arbitrators. This book, the first of its kind, provides parties opting for “private justice” with vital judicial reassurance on U.S. courts’ highly supportive posture in enforcing awards and its pronounced reluctance to intervene in the arbitral process. With a nationwide treatment describing both the default forum under federal arbitration law and the array of options to which parties may agree in state courts under state international arbitration statutes, this book covers aspects of U.S. arbitration law and practice as the following: .institutions and institutional rules that practitioners typically use; .ethical considerations; .costs and fees; .provisional measures; and .confidentiality. There are also chapters on arbitration in specialized areas such as class actions, securities, construction, insurance, and intellectual property.
This book expounds the theory of international arbitration law. It explains in easily accessible terms all the fundamentals of arbitration, from separability of the arbitration agreement to competence-competence over procedural autonomy, finality of the award, and many other concepts. It does so with a focus on international arbitration law and jurisprudence in Switzerland, a global leader in the field. With a broader reach than a commentary of Chapter 12 of the Swiss Private International Law Act, the discussion contains numerous references to comparative law and its developments in addition to an extensive review of the practice of international tribunals. Written by two well-known specialists - Professor Kaufmann-Kohler being one of the leading arbitrators worldwide and Professor Rigozzi one of the foremost experts in sports arbitration - the work reflects many years of experience in managing arbitral proceedings involving commercial, investment, and sports disputes. This expertise is the basis for the solutions proposed to resolve the many practical issues that may arise in the course of an arbitration. It also informs the discussion of the arbitration rules addressed in the book, from the ICC Arbitration Rules to the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration, the CAS Code, and the UNCITRAL Rules. While the book covers commercial and sports arbitrations primarily, it also applies to investment arbitrations conducted under rules other than the ICSID framework.
Arbitration has become an increasingly important mechanism for dispute resolution, both in the domestic and international setting. Despite its importance as a form of state-sanctioned dispute resolution, it has largely remained outside the spotlight of constitutional law. This landmark work represents one of the first attempts to synthesize the fields of arbitration law and constitutional law. Drawing on the author's extensive experience as a scholar in arbitration law who has lectured and studied around the world, the book offers unique insights into how arbitration law implicates issues such as separation of powers, federalism, and individual liberties.
This collection of essays emerged from a seminar on international investment law taught jointly by the editors at the Yale Law School . The participants brought a rich experience and, as important for a subject like this, a rich national diversity. A considerable part of the seminar involved close reading of recent international investment arbitral awards. These decisions have emerged as the most important engines of legal development in this field. Interestingly, in almost all instances, it was felt that the right decision had been reached. But without the building blocks that reasons reflect, one could not reconstruct or a oereverse engineera the reasoning of the tribunal. From this experience, it was concluded that it would be a useful exercise to examine the adequacy of reasons in some of the most important recent international investment law awards in order to see if there were significant trends with policy implications. The studies in this collection represent the best of the seminar.
