When parties to a contract agree to settle any claims that may arise between them through arbitration, the Federal Arbitration Act (the FAA) sets forth a national policy favoring arbitration. As a matter of public policy, however, New York has sought—through the 2018 enactment of §7515 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules—to exempt certain types of claims from arbitration, including claims alleging discrimination under the New York State Human Rights Law. Through §7515, New York seeks to provide those who claim to have been victimized by sexual assault a public forum in which to air their grievances.
Read moreNew Rules Bring Big Changes to New York Practice
Acting within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic’s unique opportunity for permanent reform, the Administrative Board of Courts in New York, through the state’s Chief Administrative Judge Larry Marks and his Order of December 29, 2020, enacted new Uniform Rules in the Supreme and County courts that will permanently change discovery, motion practice, pre-trial procedures and other aspects of civil litigation in the state. Effective February 1, 2021, some of these changes will impact personal injury litigation in general, and products liability cases in particular.
Read moreArbitration Agreement Does Not Bar New York State Division of Human Rights Proceeding
Earlier this month, the federal court for the Western District of New York issued a decision in Charter Communications, Inc. v. Derfert, No. 20-cv-915, 2021 WL 37726 (W.D.N.Y. Jan. 4, 2021) holding that an employment arbitration agreement did not preclude a hearing before the New York State Division of Human Rights (the Division) on an employee’s discrimination claim.
Read moreSports Law : Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was founded in 1984 and is an independent organisation that facilitates the resolution of disputes involving sporting organisations and their individual members through mediation and binding arbitration.
CAS has its main seat in Lausanne, Switzerland but also has operational offices in Sydney, Australia and New York, United States.
Read moreSingapore arbitration centre opens New York office, achieves record caseload
SINGAPORE - The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) opened a representative office for the Americas in New York last week, with a record-breaking announcement that its 2020 caseload had crossed the 1,000 mark.
It registered 1,005 cases for the first 10 months of this year, which is more than double the annual caseload of 400 in each of the last few years.
The new office, its fifth outside Singapore, will also further bolster its reputation as an international arbitration institution that will have a global reach, lawyers told The Straits Times on Friday (Dec 11 ).
Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said as much at the virtual launch of the New York office when he noted that one of the biggest users of the SIAC are parties from the United States (US).
The largest number of cases in 2018 came from US parties, he said, pointing out that they have consistently been one of SIAC's top 10 foreign users in the last five years.
"It has been SIAC's intention for some time now to open an office in the US. There is significant demand, as seen from the caseload breakdown since 2014. US direct investments in the Asia-Pacific exceed US$800 billion (S$1 billion) and that is expected to grow further."
ADVERTISEMENT
CONTENT RESUMES ON SCROLL
He also said that "in this part of the world, arbitration has become an extremely important means of resolving disputes which may arise from investments.
"If you look around Asia, I think most people would agree SIAC is considered the top arbitral institution."
SIAC's four offices in Asia are located in India (which has two offices), South Korea and China.
The SIAC, viewed as a crown jewel in Singapore's legal landscape, is led by Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, who is chairman of the SIAC board of directors, and Mr Gary Born, president of the SIAC Court of Arbitration.
SIAC counsel Adriana Uson will head the New York office, which will serve as a springboard to foster deeper ties with users in the Americas, who will benefit from real-time access to SIAC.
Mr Born said the US was picked for its first office outside Asia as American users have found SIAC arbitration conducive to the resolution of their business disputes.
"This year more than 500 US parties already have arbitrated their disputes under the SIAC arbitration rules. We look forward to working with our colleagues in the US and Latin America," he added.
Mr Singh said the choice of New York is an acknowledgement that the Americas will be shaping much of the future of international arbitration. "The opening of our New York office is our way of showing our many friends and supporters in the Americas that they matter to us."
SIAC chief executive officer Lim Seok Hui said the opening of the office, coupled with the crossing of the symbolic 1,000-case threshold and a record number of US parties at SIAC, "will firmly motivate us to do better".
Industry players say the New York office underscored SIAC's continuing prominence as an international arbitration institution with a global reach. It is no longer a national institution serving a limited, regional market, they added.
"The New York openingis in line with SIAC's remarkable landmark in recording over 1,000 cases this year and potentially overtaking other premier international arbitration institutions," said Mr Chou Sean Yu, WongPartnership's head of litigation and dispute resolution.
"This record is another testament to the growth of Singapore as a dispute resolution hub, which has come about from the tremendous investment made by the Government and various stakeholders in the legal industry," he added.
NY shuts down civil, criminal jury trials
All civil and criminal jury trials across New York are postponed indefinitely as the COVID-19 pandemic surges across the nation, with increasing cases by the day statewide.
New jury trials and the summoning of new trial jurors are halted until further notice, state Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said Monday.
Read moreKevin Schlosser Authors, “The Use of Private Judges: New World, New Wave?”
Our system of justice has certainly faced various challenges over the years, but no one can deny that the COVID-19 crisis has forced us to confront unprecedented obstacles―2020 has been a year no one will forget. In March, the entire state court system virtually shut down, except for cases deemed “essential.” While our administrative judges and the office of court administration have worked tirelessly to restore some semblance of normalcy, the challenges are formidable.