The Pepperdine Law Review hosted a symposium on International Arbitration and the Courts. For decades, international commercial arbitration has served the needs of international trade. Arbitration survives globally as a preferred method of dispute resolution in part because courts in leading jurisdictions have accepted a restrained role in relation to disputes that have been entrusted to arbitration. Nevertheless, the relationship between courts and arbitrators continues to be a dynamic one, subject to ongoing refinements as evergreen issues are revisited and as fresh questions emerge.

At this symposium, international authorities from practice and academia explored important questions bearing on the complementary and sometime antagonistic interaction between arbitral tribunals and courts. The exchanges was lively and thought-provoking.

The Symposium’s speakers and moderators included: George Bermann, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law, Walter Gellhorn Professor of Law – Columbia Law School Andrea Bjorklund, Full Professor and L. Yves Fortier Chair in International Arbitration & International Commercial Law – McGill University Christopher Drahozal, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, and John M. Rounds Professor of Law – University of Kansas School of Law Alan Rau, Mark G. and Judy G. Yudof Chair in Law – University of Texas School of Law Jan Schaefer, Partner – King & Spaulding Maxi Scherer, Senior Lecturer in International Arbitration and Energy – Queen Mary University of London Abby Cohen Smutny, Partner – White & Case Jarrod Wong, Professor of Law, and Co-Director, Pacific McGeorge Global Center for Business and Development – McGeorge School of Law Aaron Simowitz, Research Fellow – New York University’s Center for Transnational Litigation, Arbitration, and Commercial Law; and Fellow -Classical Liberal Institute. Donald Earl Childress III, Associate Professor of Law – Pepperdine University School of Law Jack J. Coe, Jr., Professor of Law – Pepperdine University School of Law Robert E. Lutz, Professor of Law – Southwestern Law School Thomas Stipanowich, William H. Webster Chair in Dispute Resolution, Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law.

View Dr. Maxi Scherer's presentation (beginning at the 26:00 mark).