The Ristori Decree Impact on Italian procedural arbitrations and potential challenge of awards containing decisions based on remote hearings

February 17, 2021 Elizabeth Wahl

On 27 October 2020 the Italian Council of Ministers approved the Law Decree no. 137/2020 on “Further urgent measures regarding health protection, support for workers and businesses, justice and safety, related to the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19” (the so-called Ristori Decree), which was published in the Official Gazette on 28 October 2020 and came into force on 29 October 2020.

The Ristori Decree sought to provide “refreshments” for the economic sectors affected, directly or indirectly, by the new series of restrictive measures imposed by Prime Ministerial Decrees of 13, 18 and 24 October 2020, to contain the worsening of the pandemic in Autumn 2020. It should be pointed out that the Decree may be subject to amendments by the Parliament at the time of its conversion into law.

We're not going back to business as usual

January 25, 2021 Elizabeth Wahl

The coronavirus has demonstrated the shocking fragility of the justice system in a way I expect none of us would have foreseen at the close of 2019. Who would’ve thought that we’d wake up one day to find that months of hearings, conferences and trials, some of which had been scheduled years ago, had been administratively adjourned sine die? Or that there would be applications of critical personal and financial importance to our clients that the courts would refuse to hear because their subject matter was not among those listed in a sweeping procedural order issued sua sponte?

ADR Solutions for a World Reordered By Pandemic - Remote Is Closer Than You Think

January 13, 2021 Elizabeth Wahl

The clearest lesson of the pandemic is that we are all connected. Supply chains and the movement of goods and people by air, land and water mean we are all part of a huge interactive web.

Now, businesses around the world are trying to combat the multiple impacts of covid-19, economic peril and, in the USA, racial injustice. Just as the challenges and new issues mount, the courts have had to cope with slowdowns and lockdowns. In an astoundingly quick transition, ADR providers and neutrals have shifted focus to providing dispute resolution services remotely online. They have issued protocols and set up processes, and many online mediations and arbitrations have already been conducted to a positive reception by many prior sceptics. Delay and backlog do not have to hamper an economic recovery that depends in part on cost-effective and efficient dispute resolution taking place now. We knew that businesses with cross-border disputes would require better and less expensive ways to address both routine and bet-the-company disputes, but the need is not yet being fully met. Help is at hand. An arb-med-arb process resulting in a consent award is a solution to an expressed need and it can happen right now (even remotely) before the long process of approval wends its way to completion for the UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements resulting from Mediation (Singapore Convention).

What the ICC and LCIA rule changes mean for international arbitration in 2021

January 13, 2021 Elizabeth Wahl

Following Brexit, international arbitration has become an even more appealing option for dealing with cross-border disputes, as discussed in a recent article. At least until the post-Brexit recognition and enforcement regime becomes clearer, parties may be inclined to take the arbitration route when it is available.

The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) are two of the big players in cross-border arbitration – and both have made rule changes recently. These modifications may make arbitration more attractive, especially in the somewhat uncertain world in which we now find ourselves.

Pandemic Pivot - ADR Poised for Prominence During Recovery

January 11, 2021 Elizabeth Wahl

On January 1, 2020, “zoom” was a verb, a noise a car makes. Three months later, Zoom be came a noun. It happened in the blink of an eye, like when Amazon no longer referred to a river in the rainforest, and Apple was no longer a fruit. Just as suddenly, Corona isn’t a beer served with lime. No one can honestly say the legal profession was prepared for a pandemic. While some companies had a long history of team meetings via WebEx and GoToMeeting, lawyers and the judiciary were far away from regularly using these tools. Yes, we could do arraignments via video from the jail. We could do video depositions. But no one voluntarily selected those options very of ten, especially when in-person transactions seemed more convenient. Now a virtual plat form is our default. Anything in person is the second choice for most. Quite the pivot, born of necessity.