Practice Management

International Arbitration: New York's Debevoise steps up.

By Dan Hull

And does the sane thing. Clients have had good reason over the years to disbelieve promises by law firms to restore arbitration to its original goals of faster-better-cheaper. Almost none of them were kept. Litigation is a money-maker, and larger firms, boutiques and other Western law shops with higher-end corporate clients have too much riding on the fees. But some observers think that the IDR group at New York City-based Debevoise & Plimpton, with 650 lawyers in eight cities (in US, Europe and Asia), still may have done the right, sane and smart thing by developing and announcing its "Debevoise Protocol to Promote Efficiency in International Arbitration" (April 2010). Do see, by GE's Mike McIlwrath, an in-house oil and gas litigation lawyer based in Florence, Italy, this article: "Faster, Cheaper: Global Initiatives to Promote Efficiency in International Arbitration", reprinted from 76 Arbitration 568?570 (2010). Debevosie can be a hero to clients worldwide, and keep its own clients forever, if it delivers and if it keeps up the leadership. The April 2010 Debevoise Protocol is reproduced in McIlwrath's piece and can also be found on Debevoise's website.

Full post as published by What About Clients? on August 10, 2010 (boomark / email).