Workshop on drafting arbitration agreements with Ulrich Kopetzki, 30 November 2018
For students pursuing their master’s in international dispute resolution, one of the most essential components of the program is to learn how to competently draft an arbitration agreement. On 30 November 2018, Mr Ulrich Kopetzki held a constructive workshop on what should be considered while drafting an efficient arbitration agreement.
The workshop was designed to enable the students to discuss with Mr Kopetzki different issues which should be considered when drafting an arbitration agreement. The first set of core choices which should be included in the arbitration agreement includes the choice between institutional and ad hoc arbitration, the set of arbitral rules, the scope of the arbitration clause, place of arbitration, choice of applicable law, etc. After that, Mr Kopetzki illustrated the implications of including time limits for finalizing the award, the extent of court intervention for interim reliefs, and the qualification of arbitrators in the arbitration agreement.
The workshop was extremely helpful in understanding how drafting unambiguous clauses contributes to the efficiency of the dispute resolution process. With Mr Kopetzki’s extensive professional experience, having worked both in law firms and in arbitral institutions, the IDR LL.M. students gained insight into the real-life practice. For me, one of the most important takeaways from the workshop was to make good use of the model clauses, and not to abuse the freedom to modify the language of the recommended arbitration agreements.
Asmita Singh, IDR LL.M Candidate