On Monday, December 17, the firm’s International Arbitration Group hosted a seminar led by Professor Jose Alvarez, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr's Scholar-in-Residence for 2012, on "The Paradoxical Argentina Cases." The seminar examined the awards rendered in one of the largest set of investor-state arbitration claims directed at a single state; those arising in the wake of Argentina’s economic crisis of 2001–2002. Professor Alvarez examined those cases to address contemporary criticisms of the international investment law regime.
Professor James Crawford of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge, and Gary Born of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP commented on Professor Alvarez's presentation. Maxi Scherer of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP and Queen Mary, School of International Arbitration moderated the debate.
Many of our international clients and friends expressed a desire to attend the seminar. With this in mind, the remarks of Messrs. Alvarez, Crawford and Born were recorded and can be viewed in full, along with the tables presented in the seminar.
Professor Alvarez is the Herbert and Rose Rubin Professor of International Law at New York University Law School where he teaches courses on international law, foreign investment, and international organizations. He regularly acts as expert witness in international arbitration cases.
The Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP Scholar-in-Residence Program brings talented professors, lecturers and other academics from all jurisdictions to our London office to collaborate with our international arbitration team on both professional matters and academic projects and to contribute generally to the intellectual life of the office.
The Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, founded by Sir Elihu Lauterpacht QC in 1983, is one of the world's leading research and teaching centres for the discussion and development of international law. The Centre serves as a forum for lectures on topical issues of international law by leading practitioners and academics. The Centre also publishes a number of international law texts and provides research facilities and accommodation for visiting scholars from around the world.
The School of International Arbitration at Queen Mary, University of London, was established in 1985 to promote advanced teaching and research in the law and practice affecting international arbitration. Today the School is widely acknowledged as one of the leading teaching and research center on international arbitration in the world. The School of International Arbitration offers a range of international arbitration courses including: specialist LLM modules, postgraduate diplomas, professional courses and training and one of the largest specialist PhD programs in the world.
Photos by Julian Raphael Prante