BCDR CEO hosts the signing of Marike Paulsson’s book “The 1958 New York Convention in Action”

Nassib G. Ziadé, the CEO of the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (BCDR-AAA), hosted a book signing event of Marike Paulsson’s book “The 1958 New York Convention in Action” at his residence in Georgetown, Washington, DC. Leading international arbitration specialists who were present in Washington, DC for the 2016 IBA annual conference attended the event. Attendees included:

• Arif H. Ali, Partner, Dechert LLP
• Haya Bint Rashid Al Khalifa, Chair, Board of Trustees, Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution
• Yousif Al Saif, Executive Assistant, Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution
• John R. Crook, Independent Arbitrator
• Brooks W. Daly, Deputy Secretary-General and Principal Legal Counsel, Permanent Court of Arbitration
• Eli Whitney Debevoise II, Partner, Arnold & Porter
• Jalal el-Ahdab, Partner, Ginestié Magellan Paley-Vincent
• Olufemi Elias, Executive Secretary, World Bank Administrative Tribunal
• Alec Emmerson, Consultant, Clyde & Co.
• Francisco González de Cossio, Partner, González de Cossio Abogados SC
• Ahmed Husain, Chief Registrar, Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution
• Mark Kantor, Independent Arbitrator
• Carolyn B. Lamm, Partner,White & Case
• Laurent Lévy, Partner, Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler
• Gerard Meijer, Partner, NautaDutihl
• Frauke Nitschke, Team Leader/Legal Counsel, ICSID
• Ziad Obeid, Partner, Obeid Law Firm
• Antonio R. Parra, former Deputy Secretary-General, ICSID
• Jan Paulsson, Partner, Three Crowns
• Diogo M. Pereira, Associate, Paul Hastings
• Rogier Schellaars, Partner, Simmons & Simmons
• William K. Slate II, former President & CEO, American Arbitration Association
• Luke Sobota, Partner, Three Crowns
• Albert Jan van den Berg, Partner, Hanotiau & van den Berg
• Nathalie Voser, Partner, Schellenberg Wittmer
• Gwen de Vries, Director of Publishing and Content Development, Wolters Kluwer Law
• Patricia D. White, Dean, University of Miami School of Law
• Anne Marie Whitesell, former Secretary-General, ICC International Court of Arbitration
• Adrian Winstanley, former Director General, LCIA
• Fady Zeidan, Deputy General Counsel, International Finance Corporation

In his speech at the event, Ziadé mentioned Albert Jan van den Berg’s 1981 treatise on the New York Convention. Noting the sub-title of van den Berg’s treatise “Towards a Uniform Judicial Interpretation,” Ziadé said: “Thirty-five years later, we ought to ask ourselves how close we are to reaching this goal. Are State court interventions today always consistent – if not among various jurisdictions, at least within the same jurisdiction?” Quoting from Paulsson’s book, Ziadé noted, “To this, Marike answers: ‘[F]or all its remarkable success the Convention has proved itself to be unreliable, unpredictable and inconsistent.’”

Francisco González de Cossio, called the book “the best tome on the New York Convention since Dr. van den Berg’s opis classicus.” The book blended “neutral analysis and new ideas to tackle ongoing and salient dilemmas,” he added.

Rogier Schellaars, Gerard Meijer, and Albert Jan van den Berg praised the book as a valuable addition to the limited collection on the topic of the New York Convention.

In her speech at the signing event, Paulsson described the process of writing the book as “a solitary endeavor” and “at times depressing.” Paulsson stressed that “honest debate is needed to decipher the current meaning of the Convention’s provisions to achieve harmonized interpretation of a rather old treaty that has now been endorsed by 157 states.”

Welcoming Marike and her husband Jan to Washington, where they took up part residence, Ziadé said “Like another well-known DC power couple you may think of during this election season, Jan – as a former president of so many arbitral bodies and international tribunals – is happily and dutifully supporting Marike in her own endeavors.”