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Full-Text Articles in Law
International Arbitration And Attorney-Client Privilege — A Conflict Of Laws Approach, Susan Franck
International Arbitration And Attorney-Client Privilege — A Conflict Of Laws Approach, Susan Franck
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
Privilege determinations in international arbitration are currently the equivalent of the “wild west,” with minimal predictability and massive pockets of tribunal discretion. Yet protecting privilege in international arbitration — when the same document or communications with lawyers that is protected by United States law may receive no protection under another law — is fundamental to safeguarding attorney-client relationships within a global environment, incentivizing procedural integrity of dispute resolution, and ensuring that justice is done. As it is not clear what law applies to privilege and client confidentiality (let alone how the law is determine), this Essay begins to bridge the …
Inside The Arbitrator's Mind, Susan Franck
Inside The Arbitrator's Mind, Susan Franck
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
Arbitrators are lead actors in global dispute resolution. They are to global dispute resolution what judges are to domestic dispute resolution. Despite its global significance, arbitral decision making is a black box. This Article is the first to use original experimental research to explore how international arbitrators decide cases. We find that arbitrators often make intuitive and impressionistic decisions, rather than fully deliberative decisions. We also find evidence that casts doubt on the conventional wisdom that arbitrators render “split the baby” decisions. Although direct comparisons are difficult, we find that arbitrators generally perform at least as well as, but never …
Predicting Outcomes In Investment Treaty Arbitration, Susan Franck
Predicting Outcomes In Investment Treaty Arbitration, Susan Franck
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
Crafting appropriate dispute settlement processes is challenging for any conflict-management system, particularly for politically sensitive international economic law disputes. As the United States negotiates investment treaties with Asian and European countries, the terms of dispute settlement have become contentious. There is a vigorous debate about whether investment treaty arbitration (ITA) is an appropriate dispute settlement mechanism. While some sing the praises of ITA, others offer a spirited critique. Some critics claim that ITA is biased against states, while others suggest ITA is predictable but unfair due to factors like arbitrator identity or venue. Using data from 159 final cases derived …
The Diversity Challenge: Exploring The 'Invisible College' Of International Arbitration, Susan Franck
The Diversity Challenge: Exploring The 'Invisible College' Of International Arbitration, Susan Franck
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
As diversity can affect the perceived legitimacy of a state’s dispute resolution system and the quality of judicial decisions, diversity levels in the national bench and bar have been an area of transnational concern. By contrast, little is known about diversity of adjudicators and counsel in international arbitration. With a lack of accurate, complete, and publicly available data about international arbitrators and practitioners, speculation about membership in the “invisible college” of international arbitration abounds. Using data from a survey of attendees at the prestigious and elite biennial Congress of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration permitted one glimpse into the …
Conflating Politics And Development? Examining Investment Treaty Arbitration Outcomes, Susan Franck
Conflating Politics And Development? Examining Investment Treaty Arbitration Outcomes, Susan Franck
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
International dispute settlement is an area of ongoing evaluation and tension within the international political economy. As states continue their negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the efficacy of international arbitration as a method of dispute settlement remains controversial. Whereas some sing its praises as a method of protecting private property interests against improper government interference, others decry investment treaty arbitration (ITA) as biased against states. The literature has thus far not disentangled how politics and development contribute to investment dispute outcomes. In an effort to control for the effect of internal …
Through The Looking Glass: Understanding Social Science Norms For Analyzing International Investment Law, Susan Franck, Calvin Garbin, Jenna Perkins
Through The Looking Glass: Understanding Social Science Norms For Analyzing International Investment Law, Susan Franck, Calvin Garbin, Jenna Perkins
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
When social science methods are being employed in a new context — such as the assessment of international investment law — there is value in exploring the underlying assumptions and normative baselines of the enterprise. This article and response address critiques about the methodology of an article in the Harvard International Law Journal by: (1) describing the value of social science in international investment law; (2) replicating the research using new methodologies to conduct more than 20 new tests that were still unable to ascertain the existence of a reliable relationship between development status and outcomes on the basis of …
Development And Outcomes Of Investment Treaty Arbitration, Susan Franck
Development And Outcomes Of Investment Treaty Arbitration, Susan Franck
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
The legitimacy of investment treaty arbitration is a matter of heated debate. Asserting that arbitration is unfairly tilted toward the developed world, some countries have withdrawn from World Bank dispute resolution bodies or are taking steps to eliminate arbitration. In order to assess whether investment arbitration is the equivalent of tossing a two-headed coin to resolve investment disputes, this article explores the role of development status in arbitration outcome. It first presents descriptive, quantitative research about the developmental background of the presiding arbitrators who exert particular control over the arbitration process. The article then assesses how (1) the development status …
Empirically Evaluating Claims About Investment Treaty Arbitration, Susan Franck
Empirically Evaluating Claims About Investment Treaty Arbitration, Susan Franck
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
With the blossoming of empirical legal scholarship, there is an increased appreciation for the insights it offers issues of international importance. One area that can benefit from such inquiry is the resolution of disputes from investment treaties, which affects international relations, implicates international legality of domestic government conduct, and puts millions of taxpayer dollars at risk. While suggesting there has been a "litigation explosion", commentators make untested assertions about investment treaty disputes. Little empirical work transparently explores this area, however. As the first research that explains its methodology and results, this article is a modest attempt to evaluate claims about …
Empiricism And International Law: Insights For Investment Treaty Dispute Resolution, Susan Franck
Empiricism And International Law: Insights For Investment Treaty Dispute Resolution, Susan Franck
Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals
While scholars in the United States increasingly focus on the empirical dimension of legal scholarship, there have been challenges in using empiricism to explore international legal issues. Rather than relying on logic or instinct alone, empirical methodologies can provide scholars with tools to gain new facts, see existing ideas through a different lens, and engage in a more nuanced analysis of international law phenomena. There appears to be a natural synergy between empiricism and international investment treaty dispute resolution. With calls for trade time outs by U.S. presidential candidates, there is interest in how investment treaties function, whether they achieve …