Last week, Washington and Lee professor of law Susan Franck held several presentations in Washington D.C. on a chapter of her forthcoming book Investment Treaty Arbitration: Myths, Realities and Costs. Franck’s presentation, titled “The Legal Profession and Investment Treaty Arbitration,” focused on the role of lawyers and legal services in international investment dispute settlement.
Prof. Franck says lawyers generally play a critical role in the management and resolution of disputes. The question, however, is what role lawyers play in the context of international investment dispute settlement. Thus far, there has been no holistic analysis of who investors use to resolve their claims and how respondents defend cases, let alone consideration of how lawyers – and repeat players in investment treaty arbitration – impact case outcomes. Prof. Franck’s research is the first to address this gap by exploring the functions of counsel in ITA and empirically analyzing the role of lawyers and their impact on outcomes.
Prof. Franck presented at firms including Crowell & Moring LLP, Weil Gotschal & Manges, Dechert LLP, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer. These firms video-linked her presentations to offices in New York, London, Paris, Rome, and Almaty.
She will be travelling to the United Kingdom and Switzerland next week to present on a different chapter of Investment Treaty Arbitration: Myths, Realities and Costs.
