Professor Rogers delivers keynote at annual arbitration conference in New York

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Catherine Rogers, professor of law and the Paul and Marjorie Price Faculty Scholar at Penn State Law, delivered the keynote address at the 8th annual Arbitration Conference of the International Young Lawyers’ Association/Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats (AIJA) on Oct. 7 in New York City.

Rogers’ talk, titled “The World is Not Enough” started from the playful premise that if James Bond practiced law, it would be international arbitration. Using Bond movie titles and posters, Rogers provided numerous examples of international arbitration cases that would make good plots for 007—cases that involve high-stakes and high-drama, wiretapping, espionage, international bribery and arrest warrants—all tied together in arbitral proceedings being argued by world-famous counsel to iconic arbitrators and set in the world’s most glamorous capitals. Rogers also observed that as international arbitration has become increasingly complex and over the years, like a Thunderball, the system has built up tremendous power and authority for arbitrators to deal effectively with these disputes.

On the other hand, Rogers also observed that a Spectre currently hangs over international arbitration, with strong critiques about the fairness and functioning of investment arbitration, as well as some user discontent with the costs and efficiency of international commercial arbitration.  Rogers exhorted the young arbitration specialists—when make strategic choices on behalf of their clients, for their careers and in service to the profession—to balance narrow, immediate self-interest with a longer view toward choices that will benefit both their clients and the larger system so that, for international arbitration, Tomorrow Never Dies.

AIJA is the only global association dedicated to lawyers and in-house counsel aged 45 and under. Through various meetings, conferences, seminars, law courses, and advocacy, AIJA promotes professional cooperation and friendship among young career-building legal professionals on an international stage. The Arbitration Conference, now in its eighth year, was held Oct. 6-8, and centered on strategic choices in international arbitration.

In addition to her role at Penn State, Rogers holds a dual appointment as professor of ethics, regulation, and the rule of law at Queen Mary University in London, where she is also co-director of the Institute for Ethics and Regulation. She has taught, lectured, and published on the topics of the convergence of the public and private in international adjudication, and the reconceptualization of the attorney as a global actor. Rogers is a reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law, the U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration. She has been appointed by the ICC Palestine to the Court of Arbitration for the Jerusalem Arbitration Center, and is a member of the board of directors of the International Judicial Academy. She is also a co-chair, together with William W. “Rusty” Park, of the ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force on Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration.  Additionally, Rogers is the founder and director of Arbitrator Intelligence, a nonprofit organization developing informational resources to increase transparency, fairness and accountability in the arbitrator selection process.

A essay version of Professor Rogers’ talk is available here: http://kluwerarbitrationblog.com/2016/11/06/the-world-is-not-enough/