Drafting an Effective International Arbitration Agreement

By Ian Meredith, K&L Gates

This chapter was first published in the PLC Cross-border Dispute Resolution Handbook 2009/09 Volume 2: Arbitration Handbook and is posted here with permission.

All too often the dispute resolution clause is the clause that receives the least attention. Pre-existing clauses are cut and pasted from existing agreements with little or no assessment made of the suitability of specific provisions, often late in the life of the drafting process. While any form of dispute resolution clause is rarely high on a party’s list of priorities when the contract is drawn up, the terms of that clause may well be crucial in the event of a dispute.

This chapter considers:

• The essential requirements of a valid agreement to arbitrate.
• Core provisions of an arbitration clause.
• Further optional provisions to address specific requirements.
• The interaction with other forms of dispute resolution.

To read the rest of this chapter, click here.