In conjunction with sponsors Shearman & Sterling and the United States Council for International Business, GW Law's International and Comparative Law Program recently hosted a conference on the "State of International Arbitration in U.S. Courts." The event provided an opportunity to showcase a dynamic new online database created by Shearman & Sterling called the "International Arbitration Digest," which gathers and summarizes all new rulings issued by U.S federal courts concerning international arbitration. Professor Steve Charnovitz provided opening remarks.
The first panel of speakers included Christopher Ryan, moderator (Partner, Shearman & Sterling; Professorial Lecturer in Law at GW Law); Catherine Rogers (Professor of Law, Penn State Law & Queen Mary, University of London); Henry Weisburg (Partner, Shearman & Sterling); and David Earnest (Associate, Shearman & Sterling). They addressed "pre-award issues." The discussion included discovery proceedings under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, the role of non-signatories in actions to enforce arbitral agreements, and interim measures.
The second panel of speakers featured Chris Ryan, moderator; Jonathan Greenblatt (Partner, Shearman & Sterling; Professorial Lecturer in Law at GW Law); Julian Mortenson (Professor of Law, University of Michigan); and Sasha Filippova (Associate, Shearman & Sterling). They spoke about "post-award issues." The discussion included collecting monetary judgments against foreign sovereigns, public policy defenses under the New York Convention, and ex parte enforcement of ICSID arbitration awards.
Visiting Associate Professor, Michael Daly, provided closing remarks. The event was followed by a question and answer session with students and local practitioners. It ended with a reception during which the speakers and attendees mingled.