Kwan Will Sen’s Post

NPAC Conference - The 3rd technical Session - Ms Divya Harchandani, Associate, (Foreign Law), Wong Partnership LLP, Singapore, spoke so passionately on the judgment of the SICC in DJO v DJP where an ICC award was set aside based on findings of apparent bias and tests for apparent bias applied by Singapore courts. Followers Highlight Nani Palkhivala Arbitration #arbitration #internationalarbitration #arbitrationlaw

Sudhir Reddy recently posted about the case of an Arbitrator who had for many years run a fraudulent arbitral scheme. Sudhir was, rightly, concerned about the apparent need for specific regulation of Neutrals. It drew to my mind another case of egregious conduct by an Arbitrator, Dr Gonzalo Stampa, in the so-called Sulu Claimants arbitration against the Government of Malaysia. Sudhir's post also led me to recall that recently the State of California passed Senate Bill 940 which introduces a certification process for arbitrators, mediators, and other non-judicial ADR providers – individuals and firms, attorneys and those from other backgrounds. The new legislation expands the California State Bar’s public protection role by directing the State Bar to establish a voluntary certification program for alternative dispute resolution providers, practitioners, and firms. Whilst the certification scheme is voluntary, the Golden State's thinking is that market forces will drive all ADR Neutrals to register. In England and Wales meanwhile the Ministry of Justice UK decided it would leave regulation to the Neutrals' own regulators. This is of course a perfectly legitimate approach. In my view, that approach begins to run into trouble the moment #ADR moves from being the niche activity that it has been in England and Wales (E&W) and goes mainstream - which is exactly what is about to happen in the next 12 months. Hundreds of thousands of citizens and businesses will be experiencing ADR for the first time. I foresee complaints may rise from virtually none to more and to which of the multiple regulators will those complaints be directed? A confusing leitmotif of supervisory bodies is likely to lead to confusion which will ill-serve this new approach to cutting the Backlog in E&W. What do we think? Is stand-alone regulation West Coast style the way to go? Those unfamiliar with the Sulu Claimants Arbitration may find helpful the link, below, to the Malaysian Government's website dedicated to those arbitral proceedings. DisputesEfiling.com Limited ADR ODR International Limited Rahim Shamji DDRS Dr Victoria McCloud Civil Mediation Council (CMC) Chris Breedon BA (Hons) MCGI Margaret Doyle Henrietta (Hetti) Jackson-Stops Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) Ben Giaretta FCIArb CArb Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Andrew Miller KC Jim Diamond Clare Fowler Jim Melamed Colin Rule Jerome Glass David Hamilton Steven Jarman Farah Ziaulla Jack Simson Caird #a2j

Does a conditional award carry the status of a final award? If an arbitration award contains certain conditional reliefs or orders, can an arbitrator subsequently revisit the case to ascertain whether these conditions have been fulfilled? In this alert, Partner Crystal Wong Wai Chin and Associate Soh Zhen Ning, explore a recent decision by the Singapore Court of Appeal that offers clarity on this matter. Read here: https://lnkd.in/g9gccUT9 If you have any queries, please contact Associate, Soh Zhen Ning (szn@lh-ag.com) or his team Partner, Crystal Wong Wai Chin (wwc@lh-ag.com). #lhagmy #lhaginsights #Arbitration #ConditionalAwards #Singapore

🍁 Terrific that CanArbWeek 2024 - "Practically Speaking" - will feature this inside look at Singapore International Arbitration Centre's scrutiny process. 🍁 Looking forward to learning more about what goes on "behind the curtain"! See ⬇ #arbitration #commercialdisputes #adr #internationalarbitration

As my friend Harald Sippel wisely remarked once, many clients don't want to be involved in disputes. It takes away executive time that can better be spent on building the business. This has been my experience as well. I once got a USD4M Singapore arbitration against my client to go away, by taking steps to have the opponent Claimant wound up in the BVI (on the basis of a deadlock, which existed on the facts). The Claimant got the memo, and discontinued with the arbitration shortly after being served with the petition for winding up by BVI counsel i instructed (Robert Foote). I got another arbitration against another client - a nuisance arbitration in our view - to go away by taking steps to ascertain whether the Claimant opponent had paid its share of the arbitration deposits, and applying for suspension under the institutional rules when we found out it had not. The Claimant, which then knew it could not engage in a fight for free, wisely discontinued with the arbitration. In both cases, the gratitude that my clients - both repeat clients - showed me was far more than for any good move in the fights I ran for them on their previous cases. Especially when the substantive merits were on their side, they knew that I could not be faulted for running the arbitrations to the end and charging them accordingly, but instead I went out of my way to think out of the (procedural) box on their matters. My clients could devote the time to their work, which is what they were in business for.

Attention Ciarb Fellows! You have until 📆15 August 2024 to register for the Applied Arbitration for Fellows course in Singapore. This two-day in-person course, brought to you by the Ciarb Singapore Branch, helps you to develop your skills and knowledge through a realistic simulation of an arbitration proceeding. You will be guided by highly experienced and respected arbitration practitioners including and led by Course Directors Marion Smith KC FCIArb and Paul JP Teo C.Arb FCIArb.  The course develops your ability to: 💡Plan and manage arbitration proceedings effectively.  💡Interpret and give effect to procedural orders, applicable arbitral rules and guidelines.  💡Identify and address common procedural and ad hoc problems.  💡Engage effectively with participants in an arbitration to enable effective and compliant contributions to the process. 📌 23-24 August 2024   📍 Allen & Gledhill LLP, Singapore   🔗 Visit the link here for more information and to book: https://lnkd.in/eaZ5BuqK     #Ciarb #arbitration #disputeresolution #legal #legalprofession    

Yesterday, George Melo, Loukas Karampogias, and Catherine Chen attended the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) lecture, "Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Asia: The Singapore Approach". It was interesting to hear how Singaporean courts handle arbitration awards and to note the conflicting approaches various countries take regarding the enforcement of awards made in other jurisdictions. Thanks for having us!   #DisputeResolution #Arbitration #ExpertWitness

As part of the Singapore Convention Week organised by the Ministry of Law, Singapore, our Michelle Yeo will be co-moderating a panel on the future of the IAA together with Toby Landau KC. The discussion is set to discuss issues of reform to the IAA with some of the best minds in arbitration. For those of you who need CPD points, its 3.5 CPD points for this session. Do sign up at the following link: https://lnkd.in/eZg9a9ti We hope to see you there! #lvmlc #arbitration

Join us on Monday, June 3 for our session on Demystifying the Scrutiny Process, presented by Singapore International Arbitration Centre! The Singapore International Arbitration Centre Rules provide for submission of draft awards to the Registrar for scrutiny before they are issued. The Registrar may suggest modifications to the form of the award and, without affecting the Tribunal’s liberty of decision, may also draw the Tribunal’s attention to points of substance. This session will demystify the scrutiny process by looking at the SIAC Award Checklist from the perspective of the institution, the tribunal and external counsel. Participants will gain insight from the SIAC’s library of thousands of scrutiny exercises into the best practices in ensuring enforceable awards, navigating jurisdictional requirements, at the seat of arbitration and the potential place of enforcement, and avoiding common pitfalls. #CanArbWeek #Arbitration #ArbitrationLaw #ADR #CommercialDisputes #InternationalArbitration #Toronto

Setting aside of arbitral award enforcement order for breach of discovery obligations - Does the policy of minimal curial intervention for arbitration matters save a party seeking to enforce an arbitral award from the consequences of its breach where that party does not comply with a discovery order? The answer is no. The Singapore Court will not shy away from holding parties to their discovery obligations even in enforcement / set aside proceedings. Material evidence pertinent to issues such as fraud which give rise to grounds for setting aside cannot be withheld with limited consequences. Very glad to have acted as instructed counsel for the 2nd Respondent in obtaining (to the best of my knowledge the first of its kind) summary dismissal of the Claimant’s enforcement proceedings and set aside of the enforcement order obtained ex parte on the ground of the Claimant’s breach of an unless order requiring it to comply with a production order. Damien Chng Nicholas PoonMichael Chan, MCIArb