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Brower and Acomb co-moderated a panel discussion entitled, “Current Issues in International Commercial Arbitration,” sponsored by the Program for International Legal Studies at Wayne State Law School
Current issues in international commercial arbitration will be the topic of a panel discussion Thursday, Oct. 2, sponsored by the Program for International Legal Studies at Wayne State University Law School.
The event will be from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium at the law school, 471 W. Palmer St. The event is free, and lunch will be provided after the program. No registration is necessary. Parking will be available for $7 (credit or debit cards only) in Parking Structure No. 1 across West Palmer Street from the law school.
Arbitration clauses are increasingly part of every international contract, a trend that has required lawyers to become familiar with the enforcement of agreements to arbitrate, arbitration procedures and the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. In recognition of the trend, the American Law Institute is finalizing its first Restatement of the Law of International Commercial Arbitration.
Panelists who will discuss these issues will be:
- Jack Coe, who is faculty director of the master of laws concentration in international commercial arbitration at Pepperdine University School of Law. He is an associate reporter for the Restatement (Third) on the Law of International Commercial Arbitration. He earned his law degree from Loyola Marymount School of Law and master of laws at University Exeter. He holds the diploma of The Hague Academy of International Law and a doctorate from the London School of Economics. He consults with governments and multinational corporations on commercial and direct investment disputes under NAFTA and bilateral investment treaties. Coe has authored numerous articles; is a regular speaker in Europe, Latin America and Asia; and has helped organize numerous conferences and programs on international dispute resolution.
- Jeremy Sharpe, who is chief of investment arbitration in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State. He represents the United States in investor-state and state-to-state disputes arising under U.S. international investment agreements and advises on the negotiation of such agreements. As an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, he teaches courses on international dispute resolution. He previously practiced arbitration with White & Case in Washington, D.C. He earned his law degree from New York University School of Law and master of laws from Harvard Law School.
- Abby Cohen Smutny, who is a partner of White & Case and recognized as one of the world’s leading experts in international arbitration. She has represented clients in dozens of arbitrations before all major arbitral forums. She handles commercial contract disputes, as well as disputes arising under various trade agreements and treaties. She is senior vice chair of the International Trade Administration and a member of the executive committee of the American Society of International Law. She earned her law degree from the University of Chicago Law School.
Moderators of the panel will be:
- Frederick Acomb, who is chairman of the International Dispute Resolution Section at Miller Canfield in Detroit. Over the past decade, more than 95 percent of Acomb’s caseload has focused on litigation or arbitration on behalf of or adverse to corporations headquartered outside the United States. He has appeared before arbitration tribunals in multiple continents, including Asia, Europe and North America. He also serves as a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and as a member of the External Advisory Committee for Wayne Law’s Program for International Legal Studies. He earned his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law.
- Charles Brower, who is a Wayne Law professor and who is of counsel with Miller Canfield in Detroit. He has taught and written about human rights, international business transactions, international commercial arbitration, the law of armed conflict and public international law for more than 15 years. Before joining Wayne Law in 2012, he was Croft Professor of International Law at the University of Mississippi School of Law. He is an arbitrator on the commercial panel of the American Arbitration Association and vice chair of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration. He earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.