Are US firms missing arbitration opportunities in Asia?

01 Feb 2012

Law.com

American arbitration lawyers are scarce on the ground in Asia. Of the 10 firms that handled the most large arbitrations in 2009-10, according to The American Lawyer's 2011 Arbitration Scorecard, four - Shearman & Sterling; Debevoise & Plimpton; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; and Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle - have no arbitration partners at all based in Asia-Pacific countries. Other top-ranked firms have only a handful.

Yet, Asian arbitration is a growth industry. The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre has increased its caseload from 281 to 624 disputes between 2005 and 2010. The Singapore International Arbitration Centre has recently doubled the number of new cases it handles annually, from 99 in 2008 to 198 in 2010.

For smaller disputes, regional clients have typically turned to domestic Asian firms, with which they have close relationships. But occasionally these local firms hit the big time, too. India's Siva Ventures Ltd. appointed Singapore's Drew & Napier to appear opposite Clifford Chance in a claim against Maxis Communications and Global Communications Services Holdings Ltd., a Mauritian investment holding company, in the Singapore arbitration arising from Maxis' purchase of Indian cell phone operator Aircel Ltd. in 2005. The amount in dispute reached more than $1 billion before a three-member arbitration panel in Singapore dismissed the claim in October 2011.

Read the report on Law.com.