Penn State Law hosts inaugural Penn State International Arbitration Day in New York

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State International Arbitration Group, a law student organization, hosted the inaugural Penn State International Arbitration Day on April 17 at White & Case LLP in New York. Co-sponsored with White & Case and the Columbia Law School Center for International Commercial Arbitration, the event brought together expert practitioners and law professors from around the world to discuss several important issues in international arbitration.

The event was very well attended with nearly 40 Penn State Law students traveling to attend, in addition to practitioners and law students from other schools around New York.

John Templeman, Global Arbitration Practice Manager of White & Case remarked that “the conference was a huge success, and it was incredibly gratifying seeing the students so enthused and inspired by the events of the day.”

In addition to substantive discussions about international arbitration topics, several speakers shared tips and insights about how to develop a career in international arbitration.

“Our students have done an exceptional job of organizing a rich program that engages deeply with the most critical issues affecting international arbitration today,” said Catherine Rogers, the Paul and Marjorie Price Faculty Scholar at Penn State Law and a panelist at the event. “We had an impressive array of leading thinkers and thoughtful contributors who illuminated, discussed, and debated these important topics.”

The daylong program included four panel discussions:

• Promoting International Arbitration in Developing Economies: Challenges and Opportunities
• The Growing Incidence of Parallel Arbitration and Its Res Judicata Effects
• IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest
• Transparency and Third-Party Funding in Investment Arbitration

Speakers included:

• Stephen P. Anway, Partner, Squire Patton Boggs’s international arbitration group
• George Bermann, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for International Commercial and Investment Arbitration, Columbia University School of Law
• Thomas Childs, Counsel, King & Spalding
• Katerina Drisi, Economic Development Program Officer, International Senior Lawyers Project
• Diego Brian Gosis, Of Counsel – Foreign Legal Consultant, Gomm & Smith
• David Kay, Research Analyst, Tenor Capital Management
• Rahim Moloo, Of Counsel, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
• Joseph E. Neuhaus, Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell
• Elizabeth Oger-Gross, Counsel, International Arbitration and Commercial Litigation Groups, White & Case
• William W. Park, Professor of Law, Boston University
• Luca Radicati Di Brozolo, Professor of Law, Università Cattolica di Milano School of Law
• John Roesser, Partner, International Arbitration Practice, Arnold & Porter
• Catherine Rogers, Professor of Law and Paul and Marjorie Price Faculty Scholar​, Penn State Law; and Professor of Ethics, Regulation & The Rule of Law and Director, Institute for Ethics, Regulation & The Rule of Law, Queen Mary, University of London
• Ank Santens, Partner, International Arbitration Group, White & Case
• Thomas R. Snider, Shareholder, GreenBerg Taurig
• Nancy Thevenin, Founder and Principal, Thevenin Arbitration & ADR

The Penn State International Arbitration Group was founded in October 2014 to provide a platform for interaction between practitioners, academics, and students on current issues in the practice of international arbitration. Its membership comprises J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. students and the group seeks to partner with other law schools, arbitral institutions, and law firms in exposing its members to the practice of international arbitration.