Resolution Roundtable

Rekha Rangachari, Executive Director of NYIAC, runs a weekly Around Town: Upcoming Events in International Arbitrations Message. We at the Section of Dispute Resolution of NYSBA greatly appreciate her thoughtful messages to our ADR community worldwide and run them weekly in this blog. The Section is a proud Founding Organization of NYIAC.

Dear Friends,

This week, let's focus on unity, a word that reverberated within the inaugural speech of the 46th President of the U.S.: "With unity we can do great things. Important things." Unity allows us to believe in miracles, to believe in new scientific breakthroughs, to be stronger -- because the collective voice creates a cadence like no other. To that end, U.S. Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman reminded us, "We are striving to forge a union with purpose ... To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man." The first 100 days of any presidency are important, as we the people look on.

Through community, we launch arbitral bodies that speak to intersectional diversity (e.g., Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers), map arbitration legislation alongside international arbitrators (e.g., the African Arbitration Association's African Arbitration Atlas), and even investigate the accuracy of memory (e.g., ICC Commission Report: The Accuracy of Fact Witness Memory in International Arbitration).

As you launch into the weekend, take an opportunity to share within your safe pod or virtually ... fudgy nutella brownies or creamy spinach-artichoke chicken stew or earl grey tea cake with dark chocolate and orange zest.

NYIAC and I remain at your disposal. If we can be of service, drop an email.

Ever yours,
Rekha

Upcoming Events

What should an arbitrator do when the parties admit, during the course of a Hearing that they have been engaged in an enterprise (which is the subject of the arbitration) that has consistently violated State and Federal criminal laws (i.e., tax fraud, money laundering, extortion)? What if the Award must include a discussion of these schemes to be complete?

Please provide your thoughts/comments below.

Soon we will be considering the return to in-person arbitration hearings and many will likely be hybrid hearings. If the arbitrator is remote and parties are in-person, what would be your expectations for properly conducting the hearing? For example, should there be a camera view for the arbitrator of the complete hearing room throughout the hearing? If the room has voice-activated cameras, is it acceptable if the arbitrator only has a view of the person that is speaking? Do you think conducting a complete virtual hearing is better than attempting a hybrid hearing?

Please provide your thoughts/comments below.

Rekha Rangachari, Executive Director of NYIAC, runs a weekly Around Town: Upcoming Events in International Arbitrations Message. We at the Section of Dispute Resolution of NYSBA greatly appreciate her thoughtful messages to our ADR community worldwide and run them weekly in this blog. The Section is a proud Founding Organization of NYIAC.

Dear Friends,

These past weeks of January have been trying. This week, let's focus on progress. NYIAC held its Annual Board Meeting Wednesday, where we paid tribute to Edna Sussman, outgoing Chair. Under her leadership and diplomacy, we expanded our outreach and circle of friends to include expert consultants and third party funders. And, we welcomed Benno Kimmelman, incoming Chair. I share an apt quote for both leaders, from Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, "A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together."

As many on this list hail from the U.S., I've found myself exploring where Americans can travel right now, filled with wanderlust and the hope we meet in Edinburgh in late September. Perhaps we hop from there to the Arctic Circle, to witness migrating whales from the new Whale Museum (shaped like a whale fin). Separately, when will hearings resume in person? You be the judge. Hopefully soon(er), with 50 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in trials.

Several cultures are celebrating seasonal festivals - allowing us to mark time. One special to me is the South Indian harvest festival of Pongal (a lentil dish and restaurant in lower Manhattan). Tradition encourages families to gather (now virtually) around a boiling pot of pongal, embracing the overflow of bubbles as happiness that will imbue the months ahead. I send those bubbles to each of you.

NYIAC and I remain at your disposal. If we can be of service, drop an email.

Ever yours,
Rekha

Upcoming Events

Rekha Rangachari, Executive Director of NYIAC, runs a weekly Around Town: Upcoming Events in International Arbitrations Message. We at the Section of Dispute Resolution of NYSBA greatly appreciate her thoughtful messages to our ADR community worldwide and run them weekly in this blog. The Section is a proud Founding Organization of NYIAC.

Dear Friends,

I am dismayed that 2021 begins with great turbulence. As pandemic cases uptick, we are again walled off from one another in lockdowns. Adding insults to injury, mobs inciting violence stormed the U.S. Capitol, deriding any anticipation of a peaceful transfer of power. A terrible nightmare that I hope we wake from soon.

On the horizon, there is brightness. Trust in our community, this community, and we shall be stronger together. Never hesitate to write if NYIAC or I can be of service.

Ever yours,
Rekha

"We must accept finite disappointment but we must never lose infinite hope."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Upcoming Events

Should there be limitations on arbitrators handling cases with repeat filers (e.g., disputes between same employer v. different employees or same company v. different vendors)? Does disclosure remedy perceived conflicts of interest, or in the alternative, should there be a cap on the number of cases an arbitrator can handle with the repeat filer? If a cap, what is the best avenue to implement -- e.g., within rules of arbitrator ethics or institutional limitations?

Please provide your thoughts/comments below.

The ability to appoint the decision makers is a defining aspect of the arbitral system and provides a powerful instrument for the parties. When drafting an arbitration clause and the parties negotiate impaneling a three-person tribunal, is it wise to have party-appointed arbitrators? What are the drawbacks, if any, to having party-appointed arbitrators? Should party-appointed arbitrators always be neutral? Should the party-appointed arbitrators always select the chair?

Please provide your thoughts/comments below.

Rekha Rangachari, Executive Director of NYIAC, runs a weekly Around Town: Upcoming Events in International Arbitrations Message. We at the Section of Dispute Resolution of NYSBA greatly appreciate her thoughtful messages to our ADR community worldwide and will run them weekly in this blog. The Section is a proud Founding Organization of NYIAC.

Dear Friends of NYIAC,

I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a healthy holiday season and a happy New Year.

2020 has been filled with pivots, permutations, and pandemic protraction. We had to dig deep, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps (a creative turn of phrase as this is physically impossible), and move forward without a deadline in sight. It was maddening, machiavellian, and marooning. Alas, we made it!

This year, we celebrate NYIAC's seventh anniversary with renewed momentum. Our audio library now boasts 21 programs available on demand, with a count of 30+ programs NYIAC organized or supported including the success of virtual New York Arbitration Week 2020. Although rooted in New York, we have grown globally because of YOU, discussing myriad topics and texts in English and Spanish. Experts say (e.g., here, here, here, and here) that gratitude breeds happiness. And so, I want to take this moment to extend my sincere gratitude to you for your support, spirit, and strength. As an international community, we came together this year in magnanimous form - ever-ready with a link to meet remotely be it for pleasure or profession.

What to expect in year two of the pandemic? 2021 will bring greater access to vaccines, vacations, and (hearing) venues (ha!). And, in due course, we will be able to gather again in person, in convivial spirit, long overdue. To that end, and if you'll indulge me in remote celebration, join us on January 13 from 6:30-7:30pm Eastern Standard Time for NYIAC's Annual Reception (dealer's choice on drink). Registration is available here. We can create our audio tome to why we love NYC, now more than ever.

Until we next meet,
Rekha

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Diversity Scholarship for Mediation and Arbitration Training

The scholarships give recipients enrollment at no charge in either (1) three-day Mediation Training offered annually by DRS or (2) the three-day Arbitration Training offered annually by DRS

Diversity Mentorship Program

The goal of the Mentorship Program is to increase diversity in the alternative dispute resolution community by providing such attorneys with training, support, and connections to assist them in becoming active participants in the area of alternative dispute resolution. Through the Mentorship Program, mentees work with or "shadow" their mentors to gain first-hand experience and training in alternative dispute resolution, attend seminars on alternative dispute resolution, and network with other professionals in the alternative dispute resolution community. The Mentorship Program duration is two (2) years.

Applications deadline: February 1, 2021

See attached two documents.

DRS_DiversityScholarships_2021_FORM fillable.pdf

2021 DRS_DiversityCommitteeMentorshipProgram_APP fillable.pdf

Rekha Rangachari, Executive Director of NYIAC, runs a weekly Around Town: Upcoming Events in International Arbitrations Message. We at the Section of Dispute Resolution of NYSBA greatly appreciate her thoughtful messages to our ADR community worldwide and will run them weekly in this blog. The Section is a proud Founding Organization of NYIAC.

Dear Friends,

Witness the beauty of the Northern Lights from your own home here (images from the Annual Capture the Atlas Photography Competition). Of differing imagery, take a look at 100 Drawings from Now, a series on "The Melancholy Gestalt of Isolation."

Interested in supporting rising musical stars? Give a listen to artists on Sofar Sounds, an innovative platform that organizes bespoke concerts in global cities (now fully virtual).

Curious to check the U.S. state-specific lines for vaccine access? Take a look here.

Have a hankering for podcasts? Some of the Best Podcasts of 2020 await you.

And, as we accelerate towards the holidays, let's be reminded that fair play pays, even in the desert of pandemic. May we continue to offer one another kindness, mirthful cheer, and respect, as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry captures best below.

"The best place for discovering what a man is is the heart of the desert. Your plane has broken down, and you walk for hours, heading for the little fort at Nutchott. You wait for the mirages of thirst to gape before you. But you arrive and you find an old sergeant who has been isolated for months among the dunes, and he is so happy to be found that he weeps. And you weep, too. In the arching immensity of the night, each tells the story of his life, each offers the other the burden of memories in which the human bond is discovered. Here two men can meet, and they bestow gifts upon each other with the dignity of ambassadors."

Please don't hesitate to write if NYIAC or I can be of assistance. Happy, happy holidays.

Warmly yours,
Rekha

Upcoming Events