Topic: Virtual hearings

A Hong Kong court has refused to enforce a mainland Chinese arbitration award because of the conduct of an arbitrator who took part in a hearing remotely while “wandering around” in public places and adjusting his seatbelt in the front seat of a car. 

16 October 2023

The United Arab Emirates has passed reforms to its arbitration legislation, allowing board members at arbitral institutions to accept tribunal appointments but potentially exposing them to civil suits – drawing mixed reactions from the arbitration community.

03 October 2023

International arbitration specialists have shared personal tales for a new IBA competition inspired by the covid-19 pandemic, including heartfelt stories about family breakdowns and bereavements and the ugly undersides of the battles for gender and geographical diversity.

12 September 2023

JAMS has released its first ever international caseload statistics report, showing that almost half of its cases were heard virtually in 2022.

30 June 2023

Featured in The Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review 2023

21 April 2023

An ICCA taskforce has wrapped up its investigation into parties’ right to a physical hearing in international arbitration, finding that none of the 78 jurisdictions examined expressly guarantee this and courts are unlikely to set aside awards solely based on proceedings having been conducted virtually.

20 May 2022

Maguelonne de Brugiere, Helin Laufer and Luke Hard report on a Herbert Smith Freehills case study of the difference in the carbon footprint and costs of in-person and virtual hearings in international arbitrations, unsurprisingly finding that virtual hearings are significantly less carbon-intensive and cheaper.

12 April 2022

A panel of arbitrators at GAR Live Abu Dhabi had some sage advice for counsel on how best to argue their case in virtual hearings, the dos and don’ts of opening statements and whether oral closings are really necessary.

25 February 2022

Sir David Richards has joined One Essex Court in London as an arbitrator after stepping down as a full-time judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.

12 November 2021

Practitioners’ experience of virtual hearings during the pandemic has been largely positive, a new Berkeley Research Group (BRG) report has found, while warning of psychological side effects including bias against those with technical issues, proceedings being difficult to police and “Zoom fatigue”.

07 September 2021