136 episodes

Arbitral Insights brings you informative and insightful commentary on current issues in international arbitration and the changing world of conflict resolution. The podcast series offers trends, developments, challenges and topics of interest from Reed Smith disputes lawyers who handle arbitrations around the world.

Arbitral Insights Reed Smith

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Arbitral Insights brings you informative and insightful commentary on current issues in international arbitration and the changing world of conflict resolution. The podcast series offers trends, developments, challenges and topics of interest from Reed Smith disputes lawyers who handle arbitrations around the world.

    Spotlight on … Managing partner of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and SIAC board member, Cyril Shroff

    Spotlight on … Managing partner of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and SIAC board member, Cyril Shroff

    Gautam Bhattacharyya hosts Cyril Shroff for an insightful discussion about India's legal landscape and its future. The pair discuss Cyril’s professional journey to his current role as a distinguished managing partner and pivotal moments along the way. They then turn to key trends, challenges and opportunities shaping the industry, the evolving role of legal professionals in a rapidly changing world and Cyril’s role at SIAC.
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    Transcript: 
    Intro: Hello and welcome to Arbitral Insights, a podcast series brought to you by our International Arbitration Practice lawyers here at Reed Smith. I'm Peter Rosher, global head of Reed Smith's International Arbitration Practice. I hope you enjoy the industry commentary, insights and anecdotes we share with you in the course of this series, wherever in the world you are. If you have any questions about any of the topics discussed, please do contact our speakers. With that, let's get started.
    Gautam: Hello, everyone and welcome back to our Arbitral Insights podcast series. And I am delighted today to have us our guest none other than Cyril Shroff. Hello, Cyril.
    Cyril: Hi. Hi Gautam.
    Gautam: It's great to see you as always. Now, Cyril is someone who really needs no introduction. If you just say Cyril, everyone knows it's him. But I'm going to tell you a little bit about Cyril because I've had the joy of knowing Cyril for a very long time and he's, he's a very special person. Cyril isn't just a legendary name in the law in India. He's a legendary name in the law globally and rightly so, uh he is an incredibly highly respected practitioner in many areas. Of law, particularly corporate securities banking, insolvency and infrastructure. He also started out as I'm sure Cyril, you will tell us in the course of our discussion as a disputes lawyer. And Cyril still has an incredible knowledge and reputation in that field such that most recently to add to his many accolades, he was appointed to the board of directors of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, SIAC something we'll speak about in the course of this podcast. Cyril is the managing partner of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, India's leading law firm. It has offices all around India. Cyril himself is based in Mumbai, the wonderful city of Mumbai and the firm not too long ago, opened an office in Singapore and I'm sure there'll be more expansion uh strategies in Cyril's mind, but CAM as it's known is rightly regarded as one of the premier law firms globally, not just in India, it's a firm that, you know, many of our listeners will know very well and I'm sure many of our listeners will have heard of Cyril, have come across Cyril, worked with Cyril, met Cyril. He really is an incredible thought leader in so many respects. So, Cyril, it's a real privilege for me despite having known you for such a long time to be doing this podcast with you. It really is a personal honor. So thank you for joining this podcast.
    Cyril: Thank you, Gautam and that was very, very kind of you. Of course, I have known you for now almost three decades and it's been an absolute joy and privilege and thank you for inviting me for this. So I'm looking forward to our conversation.
    Gautam: Thank you. I certainly am too. So let me start with this Cyril. Tell us a little bit about who in the course of your long and illustrious career so far in over, in over four decades of practice, um who have been your greatest career mentors and inspirations.
    Cyril: That's a great question. Uh Gautam. So as you know, I come from a family of a long lineage of, of lawyers. So the the the firm was founded by my grandfather. So I think it kind of is very natural to assume that some of my primary mentors were from the family and in particular, my uh my late father and who the firm of course, was uh very different during his time. But uh he, he was probably the one who influenced uh my professional personality the most because he was uh extraordinarily hard working a

    • 34 min
    An overview of the Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre

    An overview of the Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre

    Kristin Campbell-Wilson, executive director of the recently launched Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre (known as arbitrateAD), talks with Dubai-based partner Antonia Birt and associate Laura Adams about the establishment and mission of arbitrateAD. They delve into how the centre fits into the global arbitration landscape, how it differentiates itself from its competitors, and what the new rules will offer arbitration users.
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    Transcript: 
    Intro: Hello and welcome to Arbitral Insights, a podcast series brought to you by our International Arbitration Practice lawyers here at Reed Smith. I'm Peter Rosher, global head of Reed Smith's International Arbitration Practice. I hope you enjoy the industry commentary, insights and anecdotes. We share with you in the course of this series, wherever in the world you are. If you have any questions about any of the topics discussed, please do contact our speakers and with that, let's get started.
    Laura: Welcome back to another episode of Arbitral Insights. I'm Laura Adams, senior associate in the Energy and Natural Resources team. I'm here today with Antonia Bert, a partner in our Global Commercial Disputes team here in Dubai. And we are thrilled to be joined by today's guest speaker, Kristin Campbell-Wilson, executive director of the newly launched Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Center known as ArbitrateAD.
    Antonia: Welcome. And congratulations Kristin on the role. Uh and the very exciting launch of ArbitrateAD uh you joined ArbitrateAD in late ‘23 to establish the institute with the ambition to grow it into a leading center in the EMEA region. Uh But of course, you're no stranger to arbitration. You have two decades of international arbitration experience. Uh most recently with the SCC Arbitration Institute where you worked as Deputy Secretary General and then later Secretary General prior to this in private practice. And in your role at the ACC, you led various key projects including projects that really put the ACC at the forefront of technological developments. Uh Specifically, I was thinking of the development of the first digital platform for secure communications and file sharing. So we are very excited to have you here. I know you're also on the board and on committee positions of various organizations including the IBA, uh the IBA 40 editorial boards. So you're bringing a wealth of experience into the region and we are very, very happy to have you on board. So welcome again. Let's start with an overview of the arbitration sphere here in the region and how and where ArbitrateAD fits in. As many of our listeners will know ArbitrateAD replaces the Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation Arbitration Center known as ADCCAC and also its rules and the rules - the new rules have come into force on the first of February this year 2024. ADCCAC was originally established in 1993 by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce. And despite significant updates to the old ADCCAC rules in 2013, criticism has plagued the center with respect to efficiency. Another sort of relevant aspect I wanted to mention is the ADGM, the Abu Dhabi Global Market that was formed some time ago, following which there is an arbitration center that was opened by the ADGM. But that center of course is not an administering institution. It has stated the arbitration facilities but not a center in the way that we know it as part of the arbitration industry. So given all this, it's of course, also no secret that a lot of the arbitration users in Abu Dhabi have previously selected the ICC and the ICC rules for their arbitration clauses. So with this little piece of background, can you give us a brief introduction to ArbitrateADD, the background to its inception and where it fits in within this arbitration landscape?
    Kristin: Sure, I'd be happy to um first let me just say thank you for inviting me to be a part of your podcast. Very excited to be here. So thank you very much for the kind invitation. So t

    • 35 min
    Spotlight on … Independent arbitrator and mediator Hasit Seth

    Spotlight on … Independent arbitrator and mediator Hasit Seth

    Gautam Bhattacharyya is delighted to welcome arbitrator Hasit Seth for a conversation that delves into Hasit’s career trajectory and discusses the individuals who have shaped his professional journey and influenced his approach to arbitration. The duo then explore the evolving landscape of arbitration and thoughts for the future.  
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    Transcript: 
    Intro: Hello and welcome to Arbitral Insights, a podcast series brought to you by our International Arbitration Practice lawyers here at Reed Smith. I'm Peter Rosher, global head of Reed Smith's International Arbitration Practice. I hope you enjoy the industry commentary, insights and anecdotes we share with you in the course of this series, wherever in the world you are. If you have any questions about any of the topics discussed, please do contact our speakers and with that, let's get started.
    Gautam: Hello, everyone and welcome back to our Arbitral Insights podcast series. And I'm delighted today to have as our guest on this episode Hasit Seth. Hi, Hasit.
    Hasit: Hi Gautam.
    Gautam: It's really nice to have you on. I'm really excited about our conversation. Hasit is uh a, an Indian lawyer based in the wonderful city of Mumbai. He's also a part from being an independent counsel, he's an arbitrator and mediator and he's a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration. He has a very interesting academic background which in many ways instructs his practice because he a part from having a commercial practice, also has a technical specialism in a number of areas in the law. He has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and two master's degrees as well as an LLB. He has studied in the U.S. as well as in India. And apart from being an incredibly talented Council, he's one of this new generation that I really love these new arbitrators who are coming in, breaking the mold and gaining real profile. And I mentioned in my introduction that a part from his commercial practice, Hasit has a technical, a technology side to his practice, which emanates from the fact that one of his master's degrees was in intellectual property. So he has a broad range of talents. And I'm very excited to speak to you Hasit. And apart from being an arbitrator in India, I will just say that Hasit is also empaneled as an arbitrator in many other arbitral institutions regionally and in the Middle East. And I've got no doubt that his name is one to watch in the world of sitting arbitrators. So once again, a very warm welcome to you, Hasit.
    Hasit: Thank you very much Gautam. And I really appreciate uh Reed Smith's this series of podcasts, Arbitral Insights because I got to know of many people through your podcast who I would not have come across. People from West Indies, people doing mediation and many other names. So it's really exciting.
    Gautam: That's very, very kind of you to say. And uh it, it's a real privilege to have you on the series. Let me uh start with what drew you to law as a career in the first place Hasit?
    Hasit: Yes. So, uh I, I have seen you, heard you asking this question on many podcasts I mean So uh let me, let me start with the wrong answer. So my wrong answer is that my dad was a lawyer and a judge and that made me do law. But that's the wrong answer, because, he himself was a nuclear scientist and then turned to law. I mean, so it wasn't traditional for him. And it's also not traditional for me because I was destined to be a programmer. I enjoyed computer science and I was a professional programmer. What I heard from him is that law is a very interesting subject to study as a mental discipline. I mean, so I did law for that and he was very open that you don't need to practice law. You can do other things in life after a law degree. But uh what, what fascinated me and brought me to law as a choice is that in computer science, we have very definite determinate answers in any branch of science. It's very perfect in that sense. While in social sciences, of which law for

    • 33 min
    Top tips for effective cross-examination in international arbitration

    Top tips for effective cross-examination in international arbitration

    Explore the art of cross-examination in international arbitration with J.P. Duffy and Raj Pillai KC (3VB). In this episode, the duo discusses strategic insights, preparation techniques, tribunal expectations, and question dynamics that lead to effective cross-examination.
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    Transcript:
    Intro: Hello and welcome to Arbitral Insights, a podcast series brought to you by our International Arbitration practice lawyers here at Reed Smith. I'm Peter Rosher, global head of Reed Smith's International Arbitration Practice. I hope you enjoy the industry commentary, insights and anecdotes we share with you in the course of this series, wherever in the world you are. If you have any questions about any of the topics discussed, please do contact our speakers. And with that, let's get started. 
    J.P.: Welcome back to the next episode of Arbitral Insights which will discuss effective cross examination and international arbitration with Raj Pillai KC, who's a barrister at 3VB in London. I'm J.P. Duffy. I'm an international arbitration partner based in New York that acts as both council and arbitrator and international arbitration seated around the world under a variety of governing laws and arbitral rules. I participate in several hearings a year as both council and arbitrator in which witnesses are cross-examined and can offer a more American point of view on this subject. As I mentioned with me today is Raj Pillai, who's a King's Council based in London. He acts in international arbitrations and also appears in English courts and various others including the BVI, Abu Dhabi and Singapore. His role is generally as lead advocate. So he will determine strategy with the client and the legal team and then run the arguments and carry out the cross-examinations. Raj is gonna offer some insights based on both common law litigation and his arbitration experience. So welcome Raj and thank you for joining us today. 
    Raj: Thanks J.P. Nice to be here. 
    J.P.: So let me begin by talking about the importance of cross examination in international arbitration so that we can set the stage of it for our discussion. As many of the listeners will know in international arbitration, direct witness testimony is usually offered by witness statement and that's written witness statement. And what that means is that the witness will tell their story through a written document that has been prepared with the help of lawyers. There's a trend in occasion for some of these witness statements to be written entirely by the legal team and then signed off by the witness that can be a mistake because oftentimes it doesn't present the witness in a manner that allows the witness to seem very authentic or seem like they're offering their true factual story. Typically, the way that we like to do things is we like to interview the witness, hear their story, prepare them in at least from the US perspective in a way that we might prepare a witness for direct examination and then put their witness statement down on paper and then have them sign off on that. That's usually the way it's done in the US I should mention, I'm qualified in England and Wales as well. So we can have issues occasionally with how we prepare witnesses and the differences between the two systems. But I think that's usually the way most people would do it from a general perspective. Now, what that also means is that cross therefore becomes the first opportunity for the tribunal to really hear from the witness themselves and to assess the witness. So it's one thing and I've noticed this sitting in as arbitrator, it's one thing to read a witness statement and to get a sense of what you might think the witness is, it's a very different experience. When you then see that witness hear from them live, see their mannerisms, hear their words coming directly from their mouth, with their own timber, their own tenor and their own delivery. So cross really takes on a disproportionate value and importance in

    • 34 min
    Spotlight on … Trust Legal founder and managing partner, Sudhir Mishra

    Spotlight on … Trust Legal founder and managing partner, Sudhir Mishra

    In this edition of ‘Spotlight on…’, Gautam Bhattacharyya is joined by Sudhir Mishra, founder and managing partner of Trust Legal, New Delhi, and one of India’s top environmental lawyers. Together, they dive into Sudhir’s professional journey and the figures he regards as his mentors. The conversation then turns to the changing terrains of environmental arbitration, the contrasts between this and commercial arbitration, and Sudhir’s hopes for the role of dispute resolution in environmental matters.
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    Transcript: 
    Intro: Hello and welcome to Arbitral Insights, a podcast series brought to you by our International Arbitration Practice lawyers here at Reed Smith. I'm Peter Rosher, global head of Reed Smith's International Arbitration practice. I hope you enjoy the industry commentary, insights and anecdotes. We share with you in the course of this series, wherever in the world you are. If you have any questions about any of the topics discussed, please do contact our speakers and with that, let's get started.
    Gautam: Hello, everyone and welcome back to our Arbitral Insights podcast series. And I'm delighted today to have as our guest, Sudhir Mishra, the managing partner of Trust Legal in New Delhi. Hello, Sudhir.
    Sudhir: Good afternoon Gautam. Very grateful for this opportunity and I really look forward to discussing with you.
    Gautam: Well, it's wonderful to have you and I'm delighted that you accepted our invitation to be on this podcast. I've been wanting to do a podcast with you for a long time and for many reasons. But there's one major reason and that is that you amongst other things, have a great reputation and specialism in environmental law and you are very well regarded and rightly so well regarded. One of the foremost experts on Indian environmental law and you have a great affinity for this area. And I, and in the course of this discussion today, I would like to uh engage with you in a discussion around how arbitration and environmental law meet and what the future is for the resolution of environmental law disputes by arbitration. And we'll talk about that and about a number of other things. But before I do all of that about environmental law, just a quick few words about you, for our listeners. For those of our listeners who don't know you or haven't come across you before. Sudhir, apart from being a wonderful person, and I must say that is his greatest attribute in my view. He's a wonderful human being. He's also a wonderful lawyer and his firm Trust Legal uh has a number of very, very good specialisms uh including dispute resolution of many kinds, but also environmental law. And one thing that we're not going to talk about in this podcast with regret is that also it's a very well regarded firm in the area of media and entertainment law. But uh but we are going to be focusing on some other areas today with Sudhir because in fact, I could do a whole series of podcasts with Sudhir. We, we could do the Sudhir Mishra podcast series. Such is the range of issues which he could talk about, but Sudhir set up Trust Legal many years ago and it's now rightly a very well respected firm in India and Sudhir, as I mentioned, is an expert amongst other things in environmental law. Uh So it really is wonderful to have you with us on this podcast. Sudhir. Let me, first of all, ask you a little bit about your background if you could tell our listeners because it's always interesting to, to know how things began because things always begin from somewhere. And I know a lot about you myself, but I want the listeners to know a little bit about your backstory. So a little bit about your background and how you found the law or indeed, how the law found you. So I'll hand over to you Sudhir.
    Sudhir: So Gautam, thanks again. And while you are the toast of this entire country in India, because of what you have achieved in last many decades, and more specifically in last 3 to 4 months with regard to the large public sect

    • 37 min
    Spotlight on … Independent arbitrator and Tommy Thomas law firm co-founder Sitpah Selvaratnam

    Spotlight on … Independent arbitrator and Tommy Thomas law firm co-founder Sitpah Selvaratnam

    Distinguished Malaysian lawyer and full-time international arbitrator Sitpah Selvaratnam is our guest for this episode of ‘Spotlight on …’ Host Gautam Bhattacharyya takes us on a journey through Sitpah’s remarkable career, discussing the focus of her practice and the attributes she believes are necessary for anyone aspiring to become an arbitrator. The conversation then explores diversity, equity, and inclusion within the legal profession – pertinent given Sitpah’s role as co-chair of the Asia Pacific chapter of the Equal Representation in Arbitration pledge. 
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    Transcript:
    Intro: Hello and welcome to Arbitral Insights, a podcast series brought to you by our International Arbitration practice lawyers here at Reed Smith. I'm Peter Rosher, global head of Reed Smith's International Arbitration Practice. I hope you enjoy the industry commentary, insights and anecdotes we share with you in the course of this series, wherever in the world you are. If you have any questions about any of the topics discussed, please do contact our speakers. And with that, let's get started. 
    Gautam: Hello and welcome back to our Arbitral Insights podcast series. And I'm delighted that in this edition we have as our guest, Sitpah Selvaratnam. Hello, Sitpah. 
    Sitpah: Hi Gautam. Thank you for having me on your podcast. I'm delighted to be here. 
    Gautam: Well, I'm delighted that you're on this podcast. I've been wanting to do a podcast with you for a long, long time and it's, it's wonderful that we've got this opportunity and I know that our listeners will thoroughly enjoy your thoughts and discussions on the points that we're going to be talking about. Now, I will first will introduce you because some of our listeners may not be familiar with you, but you are put it this way, a real force of nature and you are an incredibly impressive lawyer and arbitrator. So um I, I could actually spend the whole half hour talking about your antecedents, but I will have to keep this uh summary short about your profile. So, Sitpah is one of the leading lawyers in Malaysia. Um She's been practicing there for over 30 years. She was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1990 having studied over here in the UK. Yeah, and I'm sure we'll come back to that Sitpah over the course of our discussion, and she, she commenced her practice in Malaysia at one of the largest firms in Malaysia and then was a founding partner of the very excellent firm of Tommy Thomas, uh where she recently has just left. So she's just left that firm to set up practice as a full time arbitrator. And we'll be discussing that in the course of this podcast. Sit is a very highly ranked lawyer in a number of areas amongst other things. Apart from her commercial practice, she has a very, very well regarded maritime practice and that has always been one of her big specialisms as well as commercial arbitration and litigation. So it's a real honor to be doing this podcast with you Sitpah and I'm really looking forward to our discussions today. 
    Sitpah: Gautam, you are just too kind. It's so lovely to be here chatting with you. So I hope this is of interest to your listeners. 
    Gautam: It will undoubtedly be. And I, I want to start with this question, what drew you to law as a career in the first place right now? 
    Sitpah: So it was accidental, as much as it was a process of elimination. I come from a rather conservative family out here in Malaysia, of Sri Lankan descent. And so my father was only about to fund my education in the UK if I did a profession. And so the law and being a lawyer seemed least worse. And that's how I ended up in, in Cardiff reading law and then in Cambridge to do my master's and the rest is history. 
    Gautam: Well, thank goodness you chose the law because you made good history in the course of everything. So, you know, so, yeah, so you studied in, uh uh in Cardiff and in Cambridge. So tell us your thoughts about your time over here? 
    Sitpah: Oh, I, it, it still s

    • 28 min

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