The Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) will be holding its Second Annual Winter Forum at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami, Florida on 24-25 January , 2013.

The ITA’s stated objective is to provide “leading educational and professional activities for legal counsel, arbitrators, business executives, government officials, academics and other professionals through programs that examine, critique and seek to improve the practice and study of international arbitration and provide opportunities to enhance the arbitration community”. 

In this respect, the first half of the Winter Forum will showcase two works-in-progress selected pursuant to a Call-for-Papers, encompassing presentations by authors, commentary by internationally recognized academics and practitioners, and interactive discussion among all participants.  This will be followed by a conversation over lunch with renowned authority Gary Born, chair of the International Arbitration Practice Group of WilmerHale. The Winter Forum will feature a Tylney-Hall-style discussion forum and will conclude with a select year-in-review of noteworthy events in international arbitration.

The Winter Forum Selection Committee is now inviting submission of proposals of up to 1,000 words on international arbitration for the Call-for-Papers.  All proposals must be submitted via email to ITAWinterForum2013@gmail.com by 1 September, 2012.  

In light of the ITA’s stated objective, the Selection Committee has suggested that interested authors explore the following topics:

• Emerging issues of substantive law in international commercial arbitration or international investment law;
• Consideration of procedural issues, including issues related to arbitrator selection and challenge, evidentiary considerations, preliminary measures, concurrent proceedings, and enforcement and review;
• The relationship between international commercial arbitration and investment law, as well as between these two pillars and other branches of law, such as intellectual property and environmental law;
• The recent jurisprudence of national courts related to international arbitration, either domestic or comparative, and the implications for basic concepts of jurisdiction, arbitrator competence and independence;
• Innovative research methodologies for the exploration and consideration of international arbitration and transnational dispute resolution;
• The interactions among arbitrators, scholars, practitioners, government officials and civil society groups active in international arbitration; and
• The consideration of international arbitration’s commercial impact, including implications of cost, the net value of arbitration and the opportunities to build sustainable dispute resolution into international business and investment.

Any questions should be directed to either of the ITA Winter Forum 2013 Co-Chairs, Joseph Matthews (Joseph@colson.com) or Jarrod Wong (jwong@pacific.edu).  Full details can be found here.