Washington and Lee law professors Susan Franck and Victoria Shannon presented recently at the prestigious Investment Treaty Forum hosted by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law in London. The forum focused on the economic and financial aspects underpinning the investor-state arbitration system, an area that has traditionally been overlooked, according to event organizers.
During the forum, Prof. Franck presented as part of a panel exploring costs, including the cost of arbitral institutions, fees of arbitrators and counsel, the allocations of costs in arbitral awards and the considerations that should be factored in when making such decisions. Prof. Franck gave a similar presentation the week before at the University of Bern and the World Trade Institute.
Prof. Shannon presented during the forum on third party funding. Her panel focused generally on systemic issues, asking whether a system organized around the resolution of privately financed claims is likely to achieve wider economic and political goals or whether a system by which one may seek ad hoc annulment as of right is likely to lead to create incentives for expeditious dispute settlement.
