22 September 2005
Key Points:
The Annual Clayton Utz / Sydney University International Arbitration Lecture is designed to demystify international arbitration and dispute resolution and to contribute to the promotion and development of this area of law in Australia and the Asia-Pacific.
In an age of globalisation, cross-border trade and offshore investment are commonplace for many businesses. But contracts with foreign companies and governments sometimes create a number of commercial risks which companies may not encounter in their domestic markets.
International arbitration and dispute resolution is crucial to any business with overseas operations. Yet for most of those businesses, there are still many questions they would like to have answered, ranging from "what is international arbitration?" and "how can I be sure my business will be treated fairly if a dispute occurs in a unfamiliar legal environment?" to "how can I solve this dispute without it affecting the commercial vitality of the company?"
Clayton Utz and the University of Sydney are presenting their annual lecture as a means to bring the international arbitration community to Sydney and provide a comfortable forum for companies to think about the real issues that could affect their international operations.
This year's lecture, "Litigate, Arbitrate, Mediate - Frustrate?: Breaking the Dispute Deadlock", will be presented on 26 October by one of the world's leading arbitration lawyers, Mr Arthur Marriott QC, an English lawyer with a long and distinguished career in the field of international dispute resolution. Mr Marriott will challenge some of the traditional approaches to dispute resolution by focusing on strategies for commercial settlement (particularly mediation) which emphasise reconciliation of the parties' business interests, particularly cost and time. Mr Marriott will be focusing on how this can have a beneficial effect on all dispute resolution - whether international or domestic.
Having practised in the field of international commercial arbitration for 25 years, Mr Marriott has extensive experience as counsel and arbitrator in all forms of international commercial arbitration and mediation throughout the world, including oil and gas, civil engineering, construction, technology, joint venture and investment treaty disputes. His achievements include being the first English solicitor ever to be appointed as Queen's Counsel. He was also a principal proponent of the reform of English legislation governing arbitration, which resulted in the passage of the Arbitration Act 1996.
The International Arbitration Lecture is a unique event in the calendar, giving companies an opportunity to learn more about how to manage the dispute risks in their international operations.
