Dispute Resolution/Litigation

International Litigation Committee
International Commercial Dispute Resolution Committee

This program will begin with a review of recent legal developments of major importance with respect to international arbitration and litigation.  It will be followed  by a roundtable discussion of the value and techniques of oral advocacy in international arbitration, including direct and cross-examination.  A wide range of techniques and styles will be discussed by a panel of common law and civil law lawyers and the participants.

Program Chair:
Robert F. Brodegaard, Thompson & Knight LLP, New York, New York

Moderator:
Guy S. Lipe, Vinson & Elkins LLP, Houston, Texas

Speakers:
Joel B. Harris, Essex Junction, Vermont
Dieter A. Hoffman, Walder Wyss & Partners, Zurich, Switzerland
Dana MacGrath, Allen & Overy LLP, New York, New York
Daniel Marugg, Gloor & Sieger Rechtsanwälte, Zurich, Switzerland
Benjamin H. Sheppard, University of Houston Law Center, Houston, Texas
Louise Ellen Teitz, Roger Williams University School of Law, Bristol, Rhode Island

International Antitrust Law Committee

Your client is a subject of multiple cartel investigations around the world, as well as a defendant in private litigation in the U.S.  Regulators and plaintiffs are demanding the production of information, documents and data located in files and computers across the globe.  This program will explore strategic options in dealing with regulators and plaintiffs amidst conflicting rules on personal and subject matter jurisdiction, data privacy and the attorney client privilege. The roundtable discussion will highlight how strategic decisions are influenced by information sharing among regulators in different jurisdictions, amnesty and leniency programs, emerging private litigation in Europe, and recent jurisprudence in the U.S. such as the landmark Twombly decision.

Program Chair:
Ethan E. Litwin, Howery LLP, New York, New York

Moderator:
Ethan E. Litwin, Howery LLP, New York, New York

Speakers:
Olivier N. Antoine, Crowell & Moring LLP, New York, New York
Lokke Moerel, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek N.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Graham Reynolds, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

International Litigation Committee 
International Commercial Dispute Resolution Committee

As incidents of international terrorism have become more prevalent over the last quarter century, so too have issues about monetary compensation for victims of terrorism.  The attacks of September 11, the bombing of Pan Am 103, the Moscow theater fire, the Madrid train bombings, hostages in Lebanon, and other terrorist events have repeatedly raised issues for the victims.  This spirited roundtable discussion will examine two primary issues.  First, is paying compensation to victims of terrorism a good public policy that should become more universally accepted?  Second assuming the answer to the first question is yes, what is the best mechanism to implement from a public policy standpoint?  Is it lawsuits, a victim’s compensation fund, bi-lateral country negotiations,  or an international tribunal?  Expert panelists in this field include a U.S. federal judge, a law school professor, a Russian attorney, and a retired foreign service officer.

Program Chair:
Michael Martinez, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, DC

Moderator:
Michael Martinez, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, DC

Speakers:
Janet Cooper Alexander, Stanford University School of Law, Stanford, California
Anne Dammarell, U.S. Diplomat, Retired, Washington, DC
Royce C. Lamberth, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Washington, DC
Maria Voskobitova, ABA Rule of Law Initiative, Moscow, Russia

Dispute Resolution/Litigation

International Litigation Committee

The camera is to the 20th Century what the printing press was to the 15th Century, with the visual image replacing the written word as the paramount communicative device.  People aim cell phones and BlackBerry cameras at everything; crimes are videotaped.  Some have suggested that there is no longer any such thing as privacy.  It is also an age of increased security and uneasiness.   In one of the great paradoxes of our time, expanded rights of privacy and data protection compete with disclosure requirements in the name of security.

To explore these issues in the international context, where different systems have different approaches, this program borrows liberally from the Harry Potter canon and will develop the issues in the context of a fictitious oral argument on appeal in the U.S. in which the photojournalist and artist Rita Skeeter does battle with attorneys for Hogwarts, Harry Potter and Professor McGonagall, as issues of privacy, artists’ rights, freedom of speech and security concerns are raised.

Program Chair:
Steven Richman, Duane Morris LLP, Princeton, New Jersey

Moderators:
Steven Richman, Duane Morris LLP, Princeton, New Jersey
Susan Kohn Ross, Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, Los Angeles, California

Speakers:
Justice Carolyn Berger, Delaware Supreme Court, Wilmington, Delaware
Robert Brodegaard, Thompson & Knight LLP, New York, New York
Jessica Darraby, Darraby Law, Los Angeles, California
Glenn P. Hendrix, Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, Atlanta, Georgia
Elena Norman, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP, Wilmington, Delaware

Dispute Resolution/Litigation

Canada Committee

It is not unusual, especially since NAFTA, for debtors to have assets in both the U.S and Canada.  In 2005, the U.S adopted the UNCITRAL model law on cross-border insolvency by including the new Chapter 15 in the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. This statute was enacted to provide for an effective and efficient system to deal with cross-border insolvency proceedings.

This session will use the facts of Everfresh Beverages, Inc. and Sundance Beverage Inc, a proceeding in both the Southern District of New York and the Ontario Court (General Division) in Bankruptcy, to reexamine Everfresh Beverages, Inc. in a Moot Court setting under the current Bankruptcy regime in Canada and the U.S. to determine whether the results would be different today.  Issues will include whether the Everfresh proceeding would qualify for a Chapter 15 filing, and whether there is any relief from the automatic stay, right to seek adequate protection, opportunity for the sale of property through the bankruptcy proceeding and the right to distribution to creditors.

Program Chairs:
H. Scott Fairley, Theall Group LLP, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Vanessa A. Lantin, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee

Moderators:
H. Scott Fairley, Theall Group LLP, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Vanessa A Lantin, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee

Speakers:
The Honorable James Farley, Q.C., McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Leonard Gold, Burns & Levinson LLP, Boston, Massachusetts
The Honorable Arthur J. Gonzalez, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, New York, New York
Bruce Leonard, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Art and Cultural Heritage Law Committee

This roundtable will explore the National Defense Authorization Act §1083, which amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s “terrorist” suit provisions.  This panel brings together diverse speakers to discuss the impact of the law generally, and in specific cases, such as Rubin v. Iran, where plaintiffs are attempting to attach ancient Persian artifacts, and Peterson v. Iran, where plaintiffs are attempting to attach various “debts” allegedly owed to Iran, including shipping and docking fees.

The panel will also address certain plaintiffs’ successful efforts in suing Libya and Libya’s settlement with the U.S. regarding all “terrorist” lawsuits. Panelists will analyze the effect of the law on cultural institutions nationwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which recently was unable to include 55 Syrian cultural objects in its “Beyond Babylon” exhibit due to Syria’s fear that the objects would be subject to attachment under the new law.

Program Chair:
Laina Lopez, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe LLP, Washington, DC

Moderator:
Sean Murphy, The George Washington University Law Center, Washington, DC

Speakers:
Peter Buscemi, Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Washington, DC
Lisa Grosh, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC
Laina Lopez, Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe LLP, Washington, DC
Stuart Newberger, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, DC

International Commercial Dispute Resolution Committee

This program will address common pitfalls in negotiating and drafting international agreements, such as transplanting and adapting foreign legal concepts and using dual language contracts and ensuring enforceability of the parties’ intent.  Emphasis will be given to specific problems that the speakers have encountered in drafting international agreements and how they are resolved at the negotiation stage and otherwise subsequently dealt with by courts or arbitrators.

Program Chairs:
Fabiano Deffenti, Carvalho Machado Timm & Deffenti Advogados, São Paulo, Brazil
Erik B. Wulff, DLA Piper LLP, Washington, DC

Moderators:
Fabio Deffenti, Carvalho Machado Timm & Deffenti Advogados, São Paulo, Brazil
Erik B. Wulff, DLA Piper LLP, Washington, DC

Speakers:
Pierre-Yves Gunter, Python & Peter, Geneva, Switzerland
Calvin Hamilton, Hamilton Abogados, Madrid, Spain
Florian Jörg, Bratschi Wiederkehr & Buob, Zurich, Switzerland
Janet Jie Tang, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Beijing, China

International Litigation Committee
International Dispute Resolution Committee

Since the onset of the global credit crisis, over seven hundred lawsuits have been instituted by and against financial service providers in the U.S. alone.  These suits have resulted in large part from the unprecedented losses suffered by banks, funds and individuals around the world, and have led to a huge public outcry for accountability on the part of those perceived to have caused the losses.  Investors have sued issuers, underwriters, rating agencies, accounting firms, mortgage lenders and originators, asset management companies and securitizers, among others, and several of these institutions in turn have claimed against each other.  This panel, comprised of leading litigators in the subprime field, will examine the claims which have arisen in the expanding international effort to allocate loss among the many parties involved.  The program will provide a detailed examination of litigation in the U.S. and beyond involving credit default swaps, CDOs, mortgage-backed securities, offshore conduit programs and other instruments and vehicles developed in the complex world of credit derivatives, and their increasing impact upon the various global financial institutions which have become party to the ever growing number of lawsuits.

Program Chair:
Charles Schmerler, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, New York, New York

Moderator:
Charles Schmerler, Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, New York, New York

Speakers:
Brian P. Brooks, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Washington, DC
Jodi Kleinick, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, New York, New York
Inigo Quintana,  Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira, Madrid, Spain

Private International Law Coordinating Committee
International Litigation Committee
International Commercial Dispute Resolution Committee

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Medellin has re-ignited a simmering controversy over the role of state law in treaty implementation. Medellin highlighted the problems created in our federal system when state law fails to comply with U.S. treaty obligations.  But does (or should) treaty ratification necessarily oust the states from areas traditionally within their purview?   The question has broad future implications.

Private international law treaties increasingly deal with topics that are traditionally regulated by state law.  Examples abound in the commercial, family and transactional fields.  Are there alternatives to federalizing all these areas?  State laws, particularly uniform laws developed by the Uniform Law Commission, can be positive vehicles for implementing treaty obligations consistent with our principles of federalism.  This program will explore the practical aspects of the controversy and identify a variety of alternatives techniques and creative approaches to ensure effective implementation of a treaty.

Program Chair:
William M. Hannay, III, Schiff Hardin LLP, Chicago, Illinois

Moderator:
Harriet Lansing, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Speakers:
Guy S. Lipe, Vinson & Elkins LLP, Houston, Texas
Kathleen Patchel, Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis, Indina
David P. Stewart, Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC
Louise Ellen Teitz, Roger Williams University School of Law, Bristol, Rhode Island

Corporate Counsel/Transactional, Dispute Resolution/Litigation

International M&A and Joint Venture Committee

The demand for legal services continue to grow worldwide and in all practices of law. We are living in a highly competitive environment among lawyers and law firms, while at the same time clients are continuously demanding better services at competitive prices. Technical knowledge, immediate response, reliability, expertise and track record – these are only some of the qualities that good international lawyers must have to attract and keep clients.  But are we delivering to the clients the services that they are really looking for?  This panel will explore the common mistakes that outside counsel make and will address some suggestions for an effective collaboration between in-house counsel and the outside lawyers.

Program Chair:
Albert Garrofé,  Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira, New York, New York

Moderator:
Albert Garrofé,  Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira, New York, New York

Speakers:
William E. Bandon, III, GE Money, Stamford, Connecticut
Ingrid Busson, Calyon, New York, New York
Sarah Fandell, Inter-American Investment Corporation, Washington, DC
Sandra González, Ferrere Abogados, Montevideo, Uruguay
Robert B. Robbins, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Washington DC

International Environment Law Committee
International Investment and Development Committee

When does government action purporting to protect and preserve natural resources become a compensatory expropriation under an investment treaty?  The issue of takings and environmental protection has long been discussed as a matter of domestic constitutional jurisprudence, with fascinating parallels and differences when the subject of a dispute under international law.  In this program, experts from different sectors will examine recent developments in free trade agreements, trade policy and international arbitrations, including the recent ICSID case Biwater Gauff v. Tanzania, involving the privatization of a water concession, and the ongoing NAFTA Chapter 11 case, Glamis Gold v. United States, in which a Canadian mining conglomerate, Glamis Gold, Ltd., has brought a $50 million claim against the U.S. arising out of a dispute over a proposed gold mine in northern California.  The panel of experts will explore the development of regulatory expropriation law in the hotly-contested and high-stakes arena of environment and natural resource protection.

Program Chairs:
Ethan Shenkman, WilmerHale, Washington, DC
Jim Rubin, Hunton & Williams, Washington, DC

Moderator:
Margrete Stevens, King & Spalding LLP, Washington, DC

Speakers:
Andrea Bjorkland, University of California at Davis, Davis, California
Daniel Magraw, Center for International Environmental Law, Washington, DC
Andrea Menaker, White & Case LLP, Washington, DC

International Corporate Counsel Forum
International Litigation Committee

What every in-house counsel and outside counsel needs to know about the global subprime crisis:  what are the credit and liquidity issue surrounding the real estate meltdown? What are the legal and ethical dilemmas presented by pursuing cases against rating agencies, banks and financial institutions?  Hear from in-house attorneys as well as regulators and outside counsel about the ramifications of the subprime crisis which has affected credit cards, corporate loans, rating services, money markets, among other areas.

Program Chair:
Carole Basri, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Moderator:
Carole Basri, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Speakers:
John Arterberry, Fraud Section, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC
David Boyd Booker, Calyon, New York, New York
Ralph Gonzalez, American Life Insurance Company, New York, New York
Mary Mack, Fios, Inc., Portland, Oregon