Straight Answers

An arbitral award is generally final and not "appealable" on the merits (i.e., you normally cannot appeal because you think the tribunal got the facts or law wrong). But an arbitration award can be "challenged" by making an "application to set aside" the award before the courts of the place or seat of arbitration.

Indeed, and most easily in comparison with the foreign enforcement of court judgments. The New York Convention of 1958, ratified by 170 countries, is the cornerstone of foreign enforcement of arbitral awards. With the exception of five grounds for rejection of a foreign award, all signatory countries must review and enforce a foreign arbitration award just as they would enforce a domestic award issued in their own country.

The most common standard in international commercial arbitration is "costs follow the event", which means the loser pays all. However, the arbitral tribunal has wide discretion in cost allocation and may not award all of the winning party's legal costs and expenses. Common reasons for not awarding full costs to a winning party are:

1. Unreasonable behaviour by the winner which caused an increase in time and costs for all concerned, such as using dilatory tactics, exaggerated claims, or failing to comply with procedural rules.

2. Unreasonable attorney's fees. If the cost submissions show an over-staffed team, unnecessary levels of seniority for tasks done, or an overly aggressive "no stone unturned" strategy, the arbitral tribunal will not award the excessive part of the costs.

Our approach to pricing legal services combines the principles of the DuPont legal model with state-of-the-art technology to offer unmatched transparency and predictability.

Task-level pricing precision: each core and variable task is assigned a specific dollar value. This is not a ballpark estimate, but an informed valuation based on historical data, legal expertise, and the anticipated resource investment.

Comprehensive budgeting, not estimates: by pricing at the task level, we move beyond traditional, often nebulous, estimates. Instead, we create a robust, transparent budget that outlines anticipated costs, offering clients an unambiguous financial roadmap for their matters.

Data processing: by collecting data from various integrated sources, our technology generates a detailed work scope for every matter down to the UTBMS task levels, and continually refines our task roadmaps and associated budgets as we work on more cases.

Each fee proposal is curated after intense and thorough review, because winning a case is a business decision, not a legal one.

Arbitration is a process through which parties agree to resolve the dispute(s) between them by submitting to the final and binding decision of adjudicators, called arbitrators, appointed by them directly, or a mechanism of appointment agreed in their arbitration agreement. The scope of the disputes subject to arbitration are limited and defined in scope, by reference to a certain situation, contract, deal or transaction.

There is no single "universal" arbitration, but institutional arbitration follows a globally standardised, sequential process.

As arbitration is the product of a contract, the contract may stipulate pre-arbitration steps that must be followed before the arbitration agreement becomes operative and binding. These steps may include notices, attempts to negotiate and settle and conduct meetings.

The arbitration formally commences by sending a document known as a "request for arbitration" or a "notice to arbitrate" as per the requirements of the arbitration rules in your arbitration agreement. At this stage the opponent may respond by submitting an Answer, a jurisdictional objection or a counter-claim. Advances on arbitration costs are also paid at this stage; this comprises the administrative fee charged by the institution, and an advance on the arbitrator's fees deposited with the institution.

The tribunal is formally constituted, of either three arbitrators or a sole arbitrator. A preliminary meeting takes place within a week to 30 days of the tribunal's appointment. At this meeting, all case management matters are discussed and agreed upon: procedures, timelines, expected number or even need for witnesses, experts, document production, oral hearings. This is consolidated in a procedural order which becomes an initial blueprint of the entire arbitration.

Proceedings then run as per the steps and timelines in the procedural order. Most rules stipulate that the final award be rendered no later than six months from the date upon which the case was referred to the arbitral tribunal. This date is almost always extended. This stage can take anywhere between 12 to 36 months depending on the complexity of the case and the approach of parties and arbitrators.

The Final Award is issued. It is considered best practice for the tribunal to finalise the award within three months of closure of proceedings.

Enforcement and challenges: the losing party normally has 30 days to file an annulment or application to set aside the award. The grounds to set aside a binding and final arbitration award are very narrow, limited to procedural failures or rare public policy breaches. Enforcement can begin after service of notice of voluntary compliance on the losing party. Enforcement can be local and foreign.

Most rules and arbitration laws mandate that the tribunal must render its award within six months of the first hearing or its constitution, but in practice the concept of party autonomy prevails in the timeline of arbitral procedures. If both parties agree to extend the deadline of six months, it is extended until such time as the parties agree to do so, sometimes subject to permission of the scrutiny of the arbitral institution (such as the ICC Court of Arbitration).

The seat (or situs) of arbitration is the legal place of the arbitration, not necessarily where hearings occur. The seat determines which national courts supervise the arbitration, which procedural law governs, and the framework for enforcing the award.

Yes, you can obtain urgent interim relief, including injunctions and asset freezes, in arbitration. You can secure these through an Emergency Arbitrator (before the main tribunal is formed), the Arbitral Tribunal, or National Courts. However, because arbitral tribunals lack direct coercive enforcement powers against third parties (e.g., forcing a bank to freeze an account directly) we apply for interim and freezing orders in support of arbitration to the courts at the seat of arbitration or in jurisdictions where the opposing party's assets are located. We have successfully obtained worldwide freezing orders from local courts in the UAE, as well as foreign courts, such as the BVI, where we secured an order against both the defendant, the party to the arbitration, and a third party escrow agent, from dealing with the assets referred to within the freezing order until the closure of the arbitration in Dubai.

The arbitration continues 'in default'. The claimant will still have to prove the merits of their case, and the arbitral tribunal will be more inquisitive and demanding on the claimant. But the arbitration will continue in absentia.