In a wonderful example of academia working with practitioners, I am delighted to announce this conference:

On March 29, 2010, Washington and Lee School of Law will host a Joint Symposium with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to explore the prevention and efficient management of investment treaty disputes.

The event will bring together academics, governments, practitioners, investors, representatives from international organizations and non-governmental entities from around the world. Professor W. Michael Reisman, the Myres S. McDougal Professor of International Law at Yale University, will deliver the keynote address. Other prominent investment and dispute resolution experts involved include Meg Kinnear, Secretary General of the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), William K. Slate II, President and CEO of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and Wolf von Kumberg, Legal Director and Assistant General Counsel at Northrop Grumman Corporation.  There will also be representatives from States such as Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Japan, Rwanda, Thailand and the United States.

W&L Law Professor Susan Franck, a leading expert in international economic dispute resolution, serves as the conference co‐organizer. “The symposium is a unique opportunity to bring together stakeholders from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds to foster creative opportunities to prevent the escalation of investment disputes and, where they happen, manage them more efficiently and fairly,” says Franck. “Given the global importance of investment treaties, the surge in the number of cases and the cost implications, we are at a unique time in history to begin to address the issues constructively.” Symposium panels will address the experiences of stakeholders in investment treaty dispute resolution, explore strategies for improving the management of investment treaty disputes, and consider creative options for the future of dispute management and prevention.   

In light of the critical issues raised, major institutions – the American Society of International Law, the American Arbitration Association, Transnational Dispute Management, Foley Hoag, Arnold & Porter, Shearman Sterling, and Crowell & Moring – have agreed to help sponsor the event.

The conference will be held at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia. The conference is free and open to the public. Registration is requested no later than March 22, 2010.  Participants can register at http://investmentadr.wlu.edu/symposium/registration.asp.    

For additional information, please visit the Symposium’s website at http://investmentadr.wlu.edu/symposium/.