25 October 2005
Sydney, 25 October 2005: A leading international arbitrator and one of the UK's most influential lawyers will challenge Australia's business and legal communities to start working together to address problems in the litigation system that he claims prevent commercial outcomes.
Arthur Marriott QC[1], Britain's first Queen's Counsel and a key supporter of UK legislative reform in the area of arbitration, will address some of Sydney's leading legal and business lights at this year's International Arbitration lecture, a joint initiative of national law firm Clayton Utz and the University of Sydney, to be held in Sydney this Wednesday 26 October.
A long-standing advocate of the need for reforms to promote the commercial settlement of disputes, Mr Marriott will draw on his own experiences as an international commercial arbitrator and barrister to address the topic 'Breaking the Dispute Deadlock'.
Mr Marriott said two recent cases in the UK - one in which the total legal costs were estimated to have reached somewhere in the region of £70 million pounds - highlighted the fact that litigation was not always aimed at achieving commercial outcomes. "There is a real and justified concern that costs have got out of hand in litigation and generally - including in international commercial arbitration," Mr Marriott said. "This is a problem affecting the common law world to which we have to find solutions. It is a matter of public duty to find ways to promote the settlement of litigation and arbitration as a major public policy objective."
The head of Clayton Utz's international arbitration practice, Doug Jones AM, welcomed Mr Marriott to Australia as this year's keynote speaker. "Arthur is a well-respected advocate and arbitrator not only in his home country but internationally," Mr Jones said. "His insights into his experiences with the UK legal system and with arbitration generally will be invaluable not only to practitioners in this area but to any-one with an interest in promoting the commercial resolution of disputes in Australia."
Speaking earlier this year at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators London Branch, Mr Marriott called for a radical overhaul of "old-fashioned" arbitration procedures to introduce greater incentives for settlement, such as taking the behaviour of parties into account in making costs orders. Mr Marriott also called for mandatory ADR processes to be attached to the courts. "There should be diversity and a spectrum of choice," he said.
Mr Marriott will deliver this year's International Arbitration lecture in the Banco Court at the Supreme Court of NSW, starting at 5.15pm.
[1] Arthur Marriott QC is a London-based partner of US law firm LeBoeuf Lamb and one of the first two solicitors to become Queen's Counsel, the highest honour a barrister can achieve in Britain. Mr Marriott practises in international commercial arbitration and dispute resolution and has represented parties in both institutional and ad hoc arbitrations around the world. He is a member of the International Council of Commercial Arbitration and co-author of ADR Principles and Practice, the leading English commentary on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Once named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the UK by The Lawyer magazine, Mr Marriott was a key player in the push for reform of English legislation governing international arbitration which resulted in the passage of the Arbitration Act 1996.
