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Is it worthy to switch to KPMG ?
“Fuck it I’m going to PDF this bitch"
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It’s like litigation, but without page limits or juries. The cases drag on for years, typically, and the memorials (briefs) can easily be hundreds of pages long. Hearings are broadly similar to trials (in the hearing all day, then work much of the night to prepare for the next day). There’s some travel to in-person hearings, but on the whole there’s less international travel than in, e.g., FCPA work. If you’re an internationally-oriented person, you’re likely to find the people in the IA bar more interesting than US litigators. Many have dual nationalities, speak multiple languages, have lived in various countries. But from a workload perspective, it’s one of the tougher practice areas. Not a lot of fire drills, as deadlines are generally known well ahead of time. But writing the memorials is a heavy lift, and the teams tend to be leanly staffed because there’s rate pressure (it’s an international market, and US firm rack rates are high compared to groups based in other countries that can also do the work competently).
Great summary - thank you for sharing this! I honestly had no idea either what this entails…
International arbitration is a funny discipline. If you are lucky, the contracts are going to be English law governed and disputes being referred to ICC/LCIA/SIAC seated somewhere reasonable like London, Singapore etc. But sometimes your clients are going to turn up with some god forsaken contract governed by Pakistani law with any disputes being referred to DIAC Rules (Dubai International Arbitration Center) seated in Dubai and those types of arbitrations keep this discipline spicy AF. Briefs are done either in memorial or pleadings style, there's a lot of room for agreeing between sides as to deadlines (these days tribunals generally aren't fussy about mutually agreed extensions etc.), document production phases can be compressed, and enforcement can be a bitch depending on the jurisdiction. You also get to meet a lot of attorneys from different jurisdictions and it can be nice to catch up with them in conferences etc. Complex, high value cases tend to be heard in person, but since COVID clients prefer remote hearings. I find that I work with a lot of English qualified lawyers in this profession.
A2, anything is possible but difficulty spikes up depending on your level of seniority. DM me if you have any questions about this area.
F
Stay away, away, away. Most unhappy people in my firm. If you are into disputes stick to federal courts where they have rules and page limits.
The other big thing (which I had not known initially because people correctly always bring up page limits) is that tribunals have absolutely no idea how to manage discovery. The document discovery process is comparably extremely crude and there is no magistrate judge to manage all the disputes. The arbitrators are great if you want to discuss 17th century Dutch maritime law but they have no concept of how discovery works.
I am keen on transiting into IA and have some experience in it. Anyone has any tips on American firms which might want to hire a Singapore and UK qualified lawyer who wants to transit into IA mid career?