An update on the New York International Arbitration Center with Rekha Rangachari

NYIAC Executive Director Rekha Rangachari discusses the NYIAC’s mission, structure, and initiatives with International Arbitration partner J.P. Duffy.

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Transcript:

Intro: Hello and welcome to Arbitral Insights, a podcast series brought to you by our international arbitration practice lawyers here at Reed Smith. I'm Peter Rosher, Global Head of Reed Smith's international arbitration practice. I hope you enjoy the industry commentary, insights, and anecdotes we share with you in the course of this series, wherever in the world you are. If you have any questions about any of the topics discussed, please do contact our speakers. And with that, let's get started. 

J.P.: Welcome back to the next episode of Arbitral Insights, in which we will discuss the New York International Arbitration Center with Rekha Rangachari, who is NYIAC's Executive Director. I'm J.P. Duffy. I'm an international arbitration partner at Reed Smith based in New York that acts as both counsel and arbitrator in international arbitration seated around the world under a variety of governing laws and arbitral rules. I'm qualified in New York, England and Wales, and the DIFC courts in Dubai, where I previously lived and practiced. I routinely represent clients in arbitrations involving a range of issues and frequently sit as an arbitrator in commercial disputes as well. I also have the good fortune to be a member of the NYIAC programming committee and previously served on NYIAC's board. With us today, as I mentioned earlier, is Rekha Rangachari, who served as the executive director for NYIAC since 2017. In that role, Rekha collaborates with stakeholders and thought leaders in the space to advance global scholarship and best practices, offers educational programming events, trainings, and operates world-class hearing facilities in Manhattan. Rekha is also actively engaged with the arbitration community as a global leader across bar associations and legal journals, and as an adjunct faculty member at both Fordham and Cardozo Law Schools. So we're thrilled to have Rekha today because she's obviously a wealth of knowledge and insight. So welcome, Rekha. 

Rekha: Thanks so much for having me, J.P., and to the Reed Smith team for putting this together. 

J.P.: Of course. Well, let me start by giving a little bit of background on the NYIAC for those that are not familiar. NYIAC is a nonprofit organization that rose out of a 2011 New York State Bar Association Task Force report that identified the need for a dedicated arbitral center in New York to maintain its position as a preeminent international law jurisdiction. The NYIAC, which opened in 2013, was the solution to that report and was formed to advance, strengthen, and promote international arbitration in New York generally. Unlike some other organizations, NYIAC offers world-class hearing facilities, but it doesn't administer cases or issue rules. 

Rekha: And J.P. I’ll jump in here and note, NYIAC's only administrative rule, titled NYIAC Arbitration Rule No. 1, that can be found on our website, provides that where parties are referred in an arbitration clause or agreement to NYIAC rules or administration, absent other agreement by the parties, the place of arbitration will be in New York. The case will be governed by UNCITRAL arbitration rules, and the hearings will take place unless impractical at NIA in New York. So I will add, in addition, we do get written in two clauses as if we are an administering body, which we are not. And so in those instances, it's good fortune that we have so many leading arbitral institutions in our backyard that we can reference if the parties agree. 

J.P.: Well, that's great. It's always simple for people like me to have just one rule to follow, which is see rule number one. And that's a really helpful bit of information because I've seen that as well, where people write it in not appreciating what NYIAC really does. And really, at the end of the day, I think the best way to characterize NYIAC is a thought leader. 

Rekha: I agree with that. Yep. 

J.P.: Yeah. And it develops programs and materials about international arbitration in New York, the application of New York law and international arbitration, and the recognition, enforcement, and implementation in New York of arbitral awards. So really at the end of the day, it's promoting New York as a seat and an arbitration center. And that was one of the guiding principles and the guiding raison d'etre for the NYIAC. So let me ask you a question then, Rekha, and you've started to touch on this, but really at the end of the day, what makes NYIAC different from other arbitral institutions? 

Rekha: Sure. Thanks for that. You know, there are a few bodies like it in the arbitration landscape, a dedicated center for global arbitration and for the community at large to advance, strengthen, and promote New York as an arbitral seat and venue, as well as New York as a lead choice of substantive law in contracts. NYIAC is independent of all arbitral institutions and of arbitration rules, but for rule number one. And since NYIAC's founding in 2013, together with the opening of the ICC's New York office, SICANA, we have really seen a growth in the use of all things New York. New York leads in this as the most frequently used and selected U.S. Law for international disputes, as well as the lead seat. Financially, as a structure, we're privately funded by founding firms, the best in class, and it's their strength, their deep bench of experience and acumen that drive NYIAC. More recently, we added an advisory council of experts and third-party funders as well to our financial model. And it's through these tranches NYIAC aims to be representative of our growing arbitral community. As you've already mentioned, we regularly host academic programs, trainings, and workshops. And whether you're in town for an UNCITRAL working group session or at one of New York's leading law schools or institutions, for an event, or you're just a New York local, all come through the doors of NYIAC. So it's a uniform space where all are welcome as we further best practices from our perch in New York. 

J.P.: Wow. That's a true differentiator from other organizations. Now, let me ask, Rekha, because one of the key features of NYIAC is obviously offering an incredible hearing space. How many cases has NYIAC hosted since it opened in 2013? 

Rekha: Since our launch, we've hosted over 200 hearings, totaling some 950 hearing days, with cases administered by the top arbitral institutions, so ICC, ICSID, PCA, LCIA, CIAC, and the list goes on. I'll add here too, in our early years, we benefited from subleasing space from the AAA ICDR. Today, we collaborate with groups including JAMS and the New York City Bar, building a shared community with constant activity along the Midtown Manhattan Corridor. So do step in. 

J.P.: Yeah, it's a very, very impressive space. And while the old hearing venue is nice, the new one is certainly an improvement, which I didn't think was possible, but it is. Now, what are some of the reasons then that you would tout for why parties would want to choose NYIAC as a hearing venue? 

Rekha: I’ll give you three. Neutrality, expertise, and service. As counsel teams, there's enough to worry about. Same with the tribunal. And so it's easy to leave it to NYIAC for all of those needs. I'll mix a famous brand saying here, a la Burger King, have it your way. So come on in and let us take care of all the logistics of your hearing so you can focus on the substantive aspects of the case. 

J.P.: Well, that is one of the really nice advantages of having a hearing at NYIAC. It really does take the pressure off of counsel to deal with any of the things other than the actual merits of the case. And NYIAC does a really superb job managing that so that you don't have to think about logistics that you don't want to worry about. Basic things such as who's going to host who's going to host lunch and where, and really important things such as technology and translation and LiveNote, all that. It can all be passed off to the organization, which handles it in sort of expert fashion. So a really, really nice facet of using NYIAC. Now, Rekha, you touched a bit on NYIAC structure, but let's just delve into that a little bit more. For those that are unfamiliar, familiar given that it did arise out of a New York State Bar Report and really is designed to promote New York as a seat in some respects. What is NYIAC's relationship to New York State and other governmental organizations? 

Rekha: Let me approach NYIAC's community involvement from a different angle, J.P.. We're actually involved with the city and state bar associations, you know, drafting reports and templates and codifying best practices, less so specifically with governmental organizations and bodies. And so I'll give you an example here. NYIAC's leadership is actively involved in drafting important reports for the city bar's international commercial disputes, and arbitration committees. And a small sampling of that, and I'm going to direct our readers here to the Citi Bar website and these reports, are the model federal arbitration summons to testify and present documentary evidence in arbitration hearings as of March 2024, the report of the working group on three private international law treatises as requested by the U.S. Department Office of the Legal Advisor of Private International Law, including the Hague Convention choice of court agreements, the COCA Convention, the Hague Convention on the the Recognition and Enforcement of Forbidden Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters, the Judgments Convention, and the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements resulting from mediation, the Singapore Convention. As well, we drafted a letter, NYIAC supported this in addition to the City Bar and several other organizations, a letter with a proposal to the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control, OFAC, to issue a general license permitting U.S. Persons subject to certain conditions to perform services related to private commercial arbitration proceedings involving parties whose property and interests in property are blocked on the same terms as existing general licenses related to litigation involving blocked persons. And finally, a report on procedures for asserting and evaluating privilege claims in international arbitration as of October 2023, which was featured at a session during New York Arbitration Week. So this active engagement in proffering best practices and and codifying it through reports is a fundamental mission of NYIAC in addition to everything else we do. 

J.P.: And I have to say some of those task force or some of the reports and the thought leadership that NYIAC puts out is really critical and used every day. I just made use of the, or that NYIAC assists with, I guess, I just made use of the report on arbitral summonses again last week as counsel. And I almost always send that to the parties when I'm sitting as arbitrator because it's such a useful resource amongst others. Now, just to sum that up, then it's correct to say that unlike some other institutions around the globe, NYIAC is not really a state funded entity. It's funded by local stakeholders, predominantly law firms, and is really then independent of the local government. Is that? 

Rekha: Correct. And I'm glad you make that distinction. I had highlighted it before, but it's important to drive home. We are a privately funded body by law firms in the first instance at our inception, and then more recently through an advisory council of economists and third party funders. So really representative of the arbitration community at large, and they are financing this center in New York. And so it's important also that it's not funded by the government as well. We're not a chambers, right? So we're really a center that does so many aspects of things, including host hearing. 

J.P.: That's great. Yeah, it's a really unique structure, I think, that really gives it a lot of independence while still giving it a lot of thought leadership drive behind it. Now, you just mentioned the advisory council. Maybe you could tell the listeners a bit about the advisory council and what it does. 

Rekha: Sure. We launched an advisory council in 2022. It's comprised of 11 economist firms and third-party funding firms as a means to draw our community closer, build cohesiveness with the experts who help us win cases. Notably, in 2023, we launched a series titled Working with the Damages Quantum Expert, where in monthly sessions, we cover topics including DCF, accounting, market valuation and capitalization using market method and event studies, and issues in post-valuation, things like limits on recovery, interest, and taxation, as a means to start the relationships between lawyers and these experts and funders and get into the nitty gritty of these topics, make everyone more conversant about them. And so it's been really fruitful. We have our final session upcoming in June to close out the series. And then we're thinking hard about what comes next. Fashioning a sort of academy where we can do a deep dive into advocacy and training on these critical topics.

 J.P.: That's really great. And I want to dive more into programming in just a minute. But before we do that, is it correct then that the advisory council is different than the advisory board? 

Rekha: Yes. So a good distinction. So we have two advisory bodies. We have this advisory council, economists and funders that comprise it. And then we have a global advisory Board. So the Global Advisory Board is a combination of practitioners, academics. It's led by George Bermann and Eric Schwartz. And we use them as our voices to understand what we should be doing in the space, what more we could do, how is the application of New York law important across the globe in different ways, and how are we growing as a community out of New York. And so we have the luxury, I think, of because we're in New York, so many visit us with frequency that we can get these various advisors together to make sure we've just completed one decade. We're looking to our next. How are we going to keep growing for the future? And it's these advisors that are going to help us do it.

 J.P.: It is a really impressive group as well. When you look at the list of names of people that sit on the advisory board, it is quite austere and quite impressive. So worth taking advice from. Now, you started to talk a bit about some of the programming that NYIAC is doing. And you talked a lot about the quantum series that was just done, which is about to be concluded, which is a really useful series that I definitely recommend to listeners. What are some other recent events that NYIAC has hosted or sponsored so that the listeners get a sense of some of the other programming that goes on? 

Rekha: So we have two signature events annually, our Grand Central Forum and, as many of you may know, New York Arbitration Week. Last year, being our 10th anniversary, we held a panel for Grand Central Forum in September titled, Selecting New York Law for Cross-Border Transactions, a Wise Choice, with a panel of in-house experts and arbitrators, moderated by Lucy Reed, with a keynote from Eduardo Zuleta. And as well, during the celebrations, we were able to have Judge Garcia in, who had clerked for Judge Kaye, our first chair of NYIAC, the founding chair, the reason NYIAC exists, to speak about her work, not only on the bench, but also in shaping NYIAC. Beyond these programmings, these two annual events we have, we also collaborate regularly with the UNCITRAL Secretariat when it's in session in New York for Working Groups 2, two, dispute resolution and working group three, ISDS reform. We most recently had a program during the working group three on reform and about financing of standing mechanism and advisory center. We were able to get a lot of representatives from the various ministries attending and participating actively in that conversation, similar to the conversations we were having on the floor of the working group. And so the goal really here is to bring together different Right. Whether it's about international commercial arbitration or investment arbitration. We've even done a program titled Disputes with a Salty Flavor and how to resolve them delving into international maritime arbitration. And so it's really trying to. Create a tapestry of different topics that are innovative, if that's possible, and new. Thoughtful and mindful, even, that there are so many programs in this day and age that we can't exhaust our audience, our local audience here in New York, but we certainly have to do things in allyship with other organizations. So we're working together to do better, more refined programming, and even less of it. But how do we deliver the content? 10. And so we're always thinking about that. And I'm grateful, J.P., that you're part of our program committee and you help us think critically about what we should be doing to make sure we take the summer months off because everyone comes back rejuvenated in the fall and ready to hit the ground running. And I hope to see many of you in the fall at Grand Central Forum, which is targeted again for September, as well as New York Arbitration Week, which is the week before Thanksgiving in November. 

J.P.: Well, I have to say it's really a pleasure to serve on the programming committee because some of the NYIAC programming is really exceptional and it is different than other programming that's going on. And that's really, that may sound a bit odd, but in this day and age of a lot of programming that's available around the world, having true differentiator programs is really nice. And I know I've put on a few that have been really fun and some of the other ones that have come out have been really, really valuable. Before we lose it, or before I lose the thought, Rekha, and I may have missed you saying it, but what is the actual date for the Grand Central Forum? 

Rekha: We're in process of finalizing it. 

J.P.: That's right. I should know that. I should know that. 

Rekha: No, no. We discussed how we threw out some dates, but I will certainly get back to our audience and make sure that everyone is privy to the details and the registration. So please stay tuned. 

J.P.: I was going to say, stay tuned. It's coming out and I'm sure you will get an email from NYIAC if you were on the list for that date because it's a really great event. 

Rekha: Maybe this is a good plug, J.P., to say for any of our listeners, NYIAC Weekly publishes a newsletter trying to capture, to the best of our ability, all of the events that happen in New York, as well as globally. It came actually out of, I was traveling for fun in Colombia, and I was in Cartagena, and I was looking around in the lobby and realized that there were a lot of people I recognized from the arbitration community. And of all things, it just so happened that there was an arbitration congress happening while I was there on holiday. And I thought, how come I didn't know about it, right? Because there are so many things going on, and we all stay informed in different ways. And so out of that, I realized maybe it would be useful for NYIAC to collect all of these events in chronological order and publish them on a weekly basis so that no matter where you are in the world, whether in your own backyard or traveling, that you can find an event if you're looking for one, if you just take a snap of the newsletter. And so you can go on our website and sign up for it. And it's also a really good way, frankly, for us not to plan events at the same times as our friends and colleagues. So we don't detract from delegate attendance at any of these, so that everyone has robust interventions and folks in attendance. 

J.P.: Yeah, Rekha, I'm really glad you brought that up. That is the most useful email that I get every Friday, almost every week. And I almost always routinely forward it to everyone within the Reed Smith International Arbitration Group because it is such a good summary of what's going on globally and also what other opportunities are available within the sort of industry sector. So, for instance, that email will contain things like information about what YAAF groups are seeking leadership applications, what sort of scholarships are available, what sort of writing opportunities there are. It's a really, really, really valuable summary of everything that's going on in a very digestible snippet. So I definitely recommend it to listeners. You will be happy that you signed up for it if you do. So with that, let's talk really quickly then to sort of wrap things up about looking ahead and where NYIAC is going in the future. Rekha, if there's one thing you'd like to see NYIAC accomplish in 2024, what would it be? 

Rekha: I’d really like to build deeper with the associates across our law firms. We started with trainings for arbitrators in 2013 and 2014, and now the institutions have taken lead on that. And so I want to build workshops to fine-tune associate advocacy and do it in a way we're also building the community across our law firms. That's the benefit of having these illustrious law firms that fund NYIAC. And so that the associate classes, not only within their firms, but across the firms, are building relationships with one another. It's only going to help them more in the future. And so that's one thing. And I think in doing that, it's also a means to disprove the idea that international arbitration is a club. Rather, it's this idea that NYIAC and many other bodies put forward that if you work card, you're kind and you're smart and ever discerning, you'll have a seat at the table. And I mean that. You'll have a seat at the NYIAC table if you do those things. And you reach out because we do it better together. And although cheesy, it's important to drive that home because there are so many interested in this practice. Year after year, going to the Vis arbitration in Vienna or in Hong Kong, you see this desire of so many students committing themselves to the substantive aspects and the procedural issues and wanting to be part of this practice. And they might not start out in the practice just because of where job vacancies exist, but they end up somehow coming back to it if they're able to. And so we want to hold on to all of that talent and figuring out how to do it, particularly across the New York law schools. I'll give you an example, trying to map all of those students that come into New York, that study at these leading law schools, that take the New York bar, and perhaps they go back to their home jurisdiction or another jurisdiction over time, but they always have an interest in New York and coming back. It's that slogan, I love New York. There's an international arbitration club that they put forward this notion, right? The I Love New York campaign of which NYIAC was built from. And so we want to hold on to that, that love of New York, the application of New York law, the commercial reasonableness, the reps and warranties of why it's getting applied more and more, and why even these lawyers that may not be sitting in New York are still recommending where appropriate New York law. How do we hold on to that? They're not only our brand managers, but they're our friends. And so I want to keep thinking critically about how we hold on. To all of that talent and stay connected in a world where everything is digitized and it's so easy to hop on a podcast or a webinar or whatever it is and connect with somebody no matter the time of day. 

J.P.: That's a really, really excellent, important point to drive home, Rekha. And I'm really glad to hear you bang that drum as well, because I am constantly telling associates within my firm to get involved, to get involved early, to join every YAAF group that they can or young international group that they can, because it really is the best way to start getting involved in the community. And NYIAC is a really great place to start doing that. So please do take up Rekha on her, what I will call her invitation to get more involved with NYIAC in particular. Rekha, let me just conclude this then by asking you one last question. Where would you like to see NYIAC in sort of five to 10 years from now? 

Rekha: So we've completed 10 years, as I mentioned last year. So we're looking to the next 10 and the next 20. And so I think the biggest focus in the next years will be to grow through the three Cs, creativity, coordination, and collaboration. So we're going to keep hosting hearings, perhaps even at more venues than we already have in our purview, to make sure that the parties have whatever they need to make it easy, right? We're going to keep putting on events and substantive sessions and bringing the community together at different junctures. and we're going to keep trying to publish important reports, all of that with momentum, right? But the truth is that we also just have to keep taking stock of where are we at and what does the community need? And I can't answer that easily. And so rest assured through our founding firms, through our advisory council, through our global advisory board, through the excellent NYIAC leadership, both at the officer level and the executive committee, we will figure it out together, and I always welcome audience participation. So if you have an idea or you think NYIAC should be doing something, it's as easy as dropping a line to info, I-N-F-O, at NYIAC, N-Y-I-A-C. Not to be confused with the town in upstate New York, NYIAC.org. So info@NYIAC.org. If you drop a line, we're always welcome to the feedback, back because certainly NYIAC is there for the people and we need to cater to those interests. So let me know. We have individual memberships too to the degree that you're looking to get more involved in NYIAC. Do that individual membership tranche, so you can then join the program committee like J.P. and others. And we have about 25 strong, J.P. It's a robust committee. But through all of that feedback and folks all over the world, they're opining on what should our big topic big programs be? How should we be dealing with new content? So get involved with NYIAC at any aspect you'd like to and do drop a line if you have any suggestions or you have a question. 

J.P.: That's really great to hear. And I can reemphasize, Rekha really means it when she says, welcome to all suggestions, because she will absolutely take them under advisement and you could well help shape how programming goes and how NYIAC itself develops. So please do reach out. Well, with that, I think we can say that concludes our discussion of the New York International Arbitration Center. I want to thank our guest, Rekha Rangachari of NYIAC for her invaluable insights. And I want to thank you, the listeners, for listening in. You should feel free to reach out to Reed Smith about today's podcast with any questions you might have. And you should also feel free to reach out to Rekha directly as I'm certain she'll be happy to answer any questions that she can. We look forward to having you tune in for future episodes in the series. Rekha, thank you again. Really a pleasure as always. And we look forward to having you back in the future. 

Rekha: Thanks so much, J.P. This was good fun. 

Outro: Arbitral Insights is a Reed Smith production. Our producer is Ali McCardell. For more information about Reed Smith's global international arbitration practice, email arbitralinsights@reedsmith.com. To learn about the Reed Smith Arbitration Pricing Calculator, a first-of-its-kind mobile app that forecasts the cost of arbitration around the world, Search Arbitration Pricing Calculator on reedsmith.com or download for free through the Apple and Google Play app stores. You can find our podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google Play, Stitcher, reedsmith.com, and our social media accounts at Reed Smith LLP on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. 

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