January 23-28, 2005

The International Legal Exchange (ILEX) Program of the ABA Section of International Law organized a Briefing Trip and Symposium on international commercial dispute resolution in London and Paris, January 23-28, 2005. The ILEX Delegation was led by ABA SIL Chair Kenneth B. Reisenfeld and ABA President Robert Grey, Jr., and joined by The Honorable Stephen G. Breyer, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and several experts on international commercial dispute resolution from the U.S., United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Australia. The trip was undertaken in close cooperation with The Law Society of England and Wales, The Bar Council of England and Wales, the Barreau de Paris, and the International Bar Association.

The agenda included briefings and substantive roundtable sessions at the House of Lords, the Royal Courts of Justice, the Inns of Court, the Palais de Justice, the French Ministry of Justice, the London Court of International Arbitration, and the International Arbitration Court of the International Chamber of Commerce. Among the memorable experiences shared by the Delegation was being greeted at the Houses of Parliament by The Right Honorable Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Senior Law Lord, and over a half-dozen other Law Lords. The Delegation was also honored to be the first group of foreign lawyers to meet at the French Ministry of Justice since 1718. The interchanges were enhanced by nearly 80 leading experts in commercial dispute resolution who joined roundtable discussions with the Delegation and the more than 700 attendees who met the Delegation at events hosted at the U.S. Ambassadors’ residences in London and Paris, and at receptions at Lincoln’s Inn in London and the Law Society of England and Wales (which featured dueling toasts between the Lord Chancellor Falconer of Thornton and Justice Breyer) and the Maison du Barreau de Paris (the Paris Bar).

The trip was capped by moot court demonstrations at the Third Annual SIL/Europe Convocation at the Maison du Barreau de Paris. An audience of more 250 ABA and Paris Bar members experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness advocates from England, France and the United States display their skills before some of the world's most distinguished jurists, including Justice Stephen G. Breyer (U.S. Supreme Court), Lord Michael Mustill (former Law Lord, House of Lords), Judge Alain Lacabarats (Cour de Cassation of France), and Andrew Rogers QC (formerly, Chief Judge, Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia). 

Delegation Members and Local Planning Committees

Trip Itinerary

Convocation Program and Hypothetical Facts

Rapporteur Notes:

• Parallel Proceedings (Rapporteur: Katherine Birmingham Wilmore)
• Why Us? We Never Signed the Agreement! Binding Non-Signatories to Arbitration Agreements and Awards (Rapporteur: Stephen Jagusch)
• Securing a Regime for Effective International Arbitrations (Rapporteur: James Passamano)

Trip Photos

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