As the City of Miami hosted the Congress for the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) recently, with well over a thousand international arbitration specialists attending, the University of Miami School of Law announced the launch of its International Arbitration Institute.
With Miami as a backdrop as one of international arbitration’s most crucial hubs, the University’s Institute is ideally situated for professional development, learning and networking with the world's best. Led by the top international arbitrators in the world, the Institute offers students unparalleled opportunities for research and study under the sustained and personal guidance of preeminent arbitration scholars and practitioners.
One renowned scholar and practitioner is Jan Paulsson, a world leader in the field having participated as counsel or arbitrator in over 700 arbitrations in Europe, Asia, the United States and Africa. He is the Faculty Chair of the International Arbitration LL.M. and holds the Michael Klein Distinguished Scholar Chair at the School of Law.
Another distinguished practitioner is Miami Law’s Visiting Professor Carolyn Lamm, a partner and litigator in White & Case's Washington D.C. office and a prominent practitioner in international arbitration. She is also an expert in dispute resolution, trade matters and cross-border commercial federal court litigation, and involved primarily in the representation of foreign corporate clients and foreign sovereigns.
The Director of the Institute is Marike Paulsson, Lecturer in Law at the law school and former counsel at Hanotiau & van den Berg in Brussels, Belgium. She is also the author of numerous publications on international arbitration and the 1958 New York Convention, and of the upcoming treatise on the New York Convention, “The 1958 New York Convention in Action.”
Leaders of the Institute also teach students and mentor them academically and professionally in Miami Law’s LL.M. in International Arbitration Program, recently named the “White and Case International Arbitration LL.M. Degree Program” thanks to a generous gift from the global law firm of White & Case LLP. In this program students are offered an extensive choice of specialized theoretical and practical courses in international arbitration in addition to a broad selection of related subjects, including course offerings with a focus on Latin America for future practitioners wishing to pursue a career involving interests in that region.
In addition to helping develop the LL.M degree program, the gift from White & Case also funds an endowed scholarship and an annual lecture coordinated through the Institute. White & Case has honored partner Carolyn B. Lamm, J.D.’73, in naming the scholarship the Carolyn B. Lamm/White & Case International Arbitration Endowed Scholarship Fund, and students receiving scholarships will be known as Carolyn B. Lamm/White & Case Scholars. The annual lecture will bring leading scholars and practitioners in international arbitration from around the world to the Institute.
“We do not look at the student’s GPA records and well-known firms in the field of arbitration only,” said Marike Paulsson, who is currently working with the class of 2014 for job placements. “We look at the student’s academic and personal profile – students whom we have gotten to know very well over the course of the academic year through exclusive seminars and mentoring – and aim to find the firm that would be best for that particular student. To place the student, we tap into our network of international arbitration lawyers and leading firms around the globe.”
LL.M. student Matt Weber adds, “Beyond the readings and lectures, our professors made sure that we were given the opportunity to meet and network with some of the top practitioners in the field. As a result, many of us developed mentoring relationships with world renowned international arbitration attorneys that will thrive long after graduation."
Additional practical learning opportunities for students include the opportunity to participate in moot arbitration competitions in a variety of specialized international commercial and investment arbitration competitions in Buenos Aires, Frankfurt, Madrid, and Vienna.
The launch of the International Arbitration Institute at the University of Miami School of Law elevates its worldwide recognition and establishes the school as a premier locale for studying international arbitration – something confined to just a handful of law schools only a few years ago.
“The University of Miami School of Law is now a dynamic player with a new lease on life,” said U.S. arbitrator and former president of the International Court of Justice, Stephen M. Schwebel, who will deliver the Institute’s first lecture this coming December.
