The future of international arbitration to be focus of conference at Georgia Law

January 14, 2009 Writer: Cindy Herndon, 706/542-5172, cindyh@uga.eduContact: Mercedes Ball, 706/825-4061, surp0501@uga.edu Peter B. Bo Rutledge, 706/542-1328, borut@uga.edu Athens, Ga. - The University of Georgia School of Law will bring leaders in the field of arbitration to campus to explore future changes to the area of dispute resolution at a daylong symposium on Friday, Jan. 30. Given the current attention being paid to the reform of arbitration law and the recent 50th anniversary of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (commonly referred to as the New York Convention), which is widely considered the foundational instrument guiding international commercial dispute resolution, this conference is very timely, according to third-year law student and conference co-organizer Mercedes G. Ball. Titled International Commercial Arbitration: Fifty Years After the New York Convention, the event will feature international dispute resolution authority Gary Born as the keynote speaker. While present, he will introduce his new treatise on international commercial arbitration. Other conference presenters will include: Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services Executive Director Robert B. Davidson, International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration Former Secretary General Anne Marie Whitesell and American Arbitration Association President and CEO William K. Slate II. Additionally, Columbia University Law Professor George A. Bermann will speak on the status of the American Law Institute\u27s Restatement on International Commercial Arbitration. Specific panels planned include: The New York Convention - the Next 50 Years, Federal Arbitration Act Reform, and Beyond Commercial Arbitration - Lessons from Other Models. Our goal was to assemble an elite group of academics and practitioners to reflect on the future of arbitration both in the United States and internationally and to explore the relationship between traditional commercial arbitration and more novel forms such as trade investment and sports arbitration, Georgia Law Associate Professor and conference co-organizer Peter B. Bo Rutledge said. It is pretty exceptional for these people to be in the same room at the same time. Sponsored by the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, the Dean Rusk Center and the American Society of International Law, the conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Larry Walker Room in Dean Rusk Hall, located on North Campus. It is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is requested. For more information or to RSVP by the Jan. 28 deadline, please visit www.uga.edu/ruskcenter/arbitration.html . #