More than 300 practicing lawyers, corporate counsel, arbitrators, mediators, academics and other professionals doing business in Latin America and the Caribbean took part earlier this month in a highly successful seminar on arbitration in the southern hemisphere.

Participants at the 1-3 November seminar in Miami heard from numerous distinguished guests, including Fernando Peláez-Pier, the President of the International Bar Association; Fernando Mantilla-Serrano, Partner with Shearman & Sterling LLP in France and Member for Colombia at the ICC International Court of Arbitration; and José Emilio Nunes Pinto, Partner with José Emilio Nunes Pinto Advogados in Brazil.

One of the main features of the two-day event was a mock case on the scope of international arbitration law and the validity of an arbitration agreement, with those in assistance having the opportunity to discuss and comment on the presentation.

 “The ICC Miami Conference has become the most important gathering of the Latin American Arbitration community for its content and the excellent opportunity for networking and meeting friends,” said Eduardo Damião Gonçalves of the law firm Barretto Ferreira, Kujawski, Brancher e Gonçalves.

A panel on the cases of Brazil and Mexico was told that the two countries have developed the adequate legal framework and positive environment required for arbitration. Some emerging arbitration centres, including Colombia, Argentina, Peru and the Dominican Republic, are also developing these features.

Jason Fry, Secretary General of the ICC Court of Arbitration, discussed the issues being raised during the current revision of the ICC rules of arbitration, including how to reduce both time and costs, introduce information technology, deal with the increasing number of multi-party issues, and address lacunas in the rules.

The increased attention to longer term trends and the changing meaning of confidentiality, enforcement, bankruptcies and liquidations as well as bias in party-appointed arbitrators brought about by the current economic crisis was the subject of a roundtable entitled “Arbitrating Under Economic Distress.”

ICC Court of Arbitration President John Beechey said, in this context, that the Court is finding new ways to insure that process remains reliable, relevant and efficient.

One panel was devoted exclusively to natural resource disputes, with participants learning how to tackle the unique issues that arise upstream and midstream in the oil and natural gas industries, particularly when states or state entities are involved in commercial arbitration and BIT arbitration. Participants also learned that time is always of essence in a natural resource dispute.

Another topic discussed at the panel included the “pink elephant,” a state entity acting privately that can still be governed by public law. The panel also heard that freedom of contract as well as the rule of law have implications on the arbitration agreement, especially in cases when there is a state or state actor.

Concerning ICC awards, panellists discussed the scrutiny process, how awards are drafted, and how dissenting opinions are taken into account. The three objectives of an award, participants heard, are to resolve the dispute in an enforceable manner, elaborate how and why the arbitrators decided the case in the manner they did, and show that the tribunal considered the arguments of all the parties involved. Issues concerning dissenting opinions and local law distinctions regarding jurisdictional problems were also debated.

The next conference will be held in Miami 7 to 9 November, 2010