We thought that you might find interesting the following recent developments in international arbitration published by the International Law Office service: Brazil: What constitutes a domestic arbitral award? Greece: Enforcing interest claims in arbitration India: Court implies exclusion of Part I of Arbitration Act in favour of alternative law Malaysia: Court rules on importance of maintaining arbitral panel members Mexico : New bill disregards general principles of mediation Switzerland: Parties’ right to be heard on costs Turkey: New Code of Civil Procedure regulates domestic arbitration Ukraine Challenging international arbitration awards: legislative changes trigger debate United Kingdom Arbitrators not employees in anti-discrimination legislation Technorati Tags: law, ADR, arbitration

It is time to vote for your favorite blawgs! Following find the American Bar Association announcement and instructions. We’re working on our annual list of the 100 best legal blogs, and we’d like your advice on which blawgs you think we should include. Use the form below to tell us about a blawg—not your own—that you read regularly and think other lawyers should know about. Or if you don’t have particular blawgs in mind but think blawgs from a certain practice areas should be represented in the Blawg 100, you can use this form to let us know which ones. If there is more than one blawg you want to support, feel free to send us additional amici through the form. We may include some of the best comments in our Blawg 100 coverage. But keep your remarks pithy—you have a 500-character limit. Friend-of-the-blawg briefs are due no later than Sept. 9, 2011. About Blawg 100 Amici Blawggers, by all means tell your readers about Blawg 100 Amici and invite them to send us messages on behalf of your blawg. But please know that we disregard amici from: • Blawggers who nominate their own blawgs or blawgs to which they have previously contributed posts. • Wives and husbands who nominate their spouses’ blawgs. • Employees of law firms who nominate blawgs with their own firm’s branding. • Public relations professionals in the employ of lawyers or law firms who nominate their clients’ blawgs. • Pairs of blawggers who have clearly entered into a gentlemen’s agreement to nominate each other. There is no specific criteria that a blawgger can meet to be guaranteed a spot on the Blawg 100. And we think our list would suffer if there were. A blawg’s whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, and a blawg that never fails to post that daily update, has a beautiful design and an unwavering topical focus can very often have less of an impact than another blawg that is less consistent on all fronts. That said, please keep these criteria in mind when submitting Blawg 100 amici: • We’re only interested in blawgs in which the author is recognizable as a lawyer or law student in the vast majority of his or her posts. • The blawg should be written with an audience of lawyers or law students—rather than potential clients or potential law students—in mind. • The majority of the blawg’s content should be unique to the blawg and not cross-posted or cut and pasted from other publications. • We are not interested in blawgs that more or less exist to promote the author’s products and services. The link to submit your Blawg Amici is here.    

As reported by the ADR Prof, the New York legislature is considering a bill (S. 5798-2011) that would amend New York’s Civil Practice Law & Rules §7511(b)(1)(ii) on Award vacaturs to state (new language in ALL CAPS): (ii) partiality of an arbitrator appointed as a neutral, except where the award was by confession; OR WHERE THE ARBITRATOR HAS BEEN AFFILIATED IN ANY WAY WITH ANY PARTY TO THE ARBITRATION, OR ANY OF ITS SUBSIDIARIES OR AFFILIATES; OR WHERE THE ARBITRATOR HAS A FINANCIAL INTEREST, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN ANY PARTY OR IN THE OUTCOME OF THE ARBITRATION; or… The bill’s justification states, The public policy in favor of arbitration which is codified in Section 7501 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, is based upon the fact that arbitration can be a more efficient and cost-effective method for parties to resolve disputes. The presumption that an arbitration clause is enforceable has, however, become a sword to wield against parties oflesser means rather than a shield to protect against unnecessary litigation. Currently, a party must prove, either during the course of misconduct by the arbitrator or after an award by an arbitrator is perceived to be unfair, that the arbitrator was biased – even if the arbitrator clearly has an economic stake in the outcome of the dispute. This outcome is in direct opposition to the reasons (efficiency and fairness) why arbitration is favored. As arbitration is commonly thought to be a dispute resolution procedure that occurs in front of a neutral third party, codifying it as such will enforce the original intent of the law. The bill’s companion A7002-A-2011, already passed the assembly and was delivered to the Senate. Stay tuned. Technorati Tags: arbitration, ADR, law

The National Center for State Courts released recently Advancing Dispute Resolution in the New Mexico Judiciary. The report addresses 10 recommendations for New Mexico’s ADR program: Create and Permanently Staff a Supreme Court ADR Commission Leverage Court Programs through Collaboration with Other NM Organizations Maximize Internal Court System Resources to Enhance ADR Programs Structure New and Expanded ADR Initiatives in Phases and Pilot Projects Enhance ADR Training, Management and Operations Through Technology Nurture Different Approaches in Large and Small Court Jurisdictions Publicize and Market a “Multi-Door Courthouse” Concept Give Self-Represented Litigants Adequate Access to Court-Annexed ADR Grow the Number and Quality of ADR Neutrals and Court Programs Upgrade Services through Long-Term, Dedicated Funding Find the report here. Technorati Tags: arbitration, ADR, law