With the year end in sight, I looked back at what posts you read most in 2013. The three main categories that Dispute Resolution Germany covers – arbitration, litigation and mediation – are all represented. Investment arbitration emerges as THE hot topic, with four entries in the top ten. Arbitration in total accounts for seven posts. Here are the top ten posts:
- Vattenfall vs. Germany: ICSID Arbitration Tribunal Constituted (January 3, 2013)
- Class Actions in Germany – KapMuG extended Until 2020 (July 13, 2012)
- Atomic Arbitration: Vattenfall Challenges Germany’s Nuclear Power Phase-Out (June 5, 2012)
- Russian Arbitrazh Court Non an Arbitral Tribunal, Says Munich Court of Appeals (January 12, 2013)
- New IBA Guidelines on Party Representation in International Arbitration (May 29, 2013)
- Recognition of Russian Judgments, Arbitrazh Courts and the Requirement for Reciprocity (January 30, 2013)
- Frankfurt Court of Appeals Upholds Arbitration Clause in BIT Arbitration Eureko v. Slovak Republic (May 15, 2012)
- Van Gend & Loos: 50th Anniversary of ECJ Landmark Case (February 5, 2013)
- Porsche Litigation Update: New York, Stuttgart, Braunschweig – Next Stop Hannover? (April 19, 2013)
- Update: Vattenfall vs. Germany – A Dual Track Strategy (July 25, 2013) and German Mediation Act and the Mediation Committee: Final Compromise (June 28, 2012).
Five of the eleven posts were published in 2012 – I take this as evidence that readers are using the blog not only to follow current events, but also as a resource on older topics. Three posts made it both into the 2012 and the 2013 top ten: The German Mediation Act, the Frankfurt judgment on Eureko and Vattenfall’s Atomic Arbitration.
In the 2013 top ten, there were two pure litigation topics, on Germany’s class action legislation and on the Porsche securities litigation. The two posts on the Russian Arbitrazh Courts were arbitration in name, but litigation in substance. If they are counted in both the arbitration and litigation category, a more balanced picture emerges: Seven arbitration posts and four litigation posts.
I was not quite sure whether to count the Van Gend & Loos post in the litigation category – it was more of a legal history post, and on balance, I have decided to categorize it as a post sui generis.
Russian topics seem to be always popular. In 2012, From Russia with Love was a hit. It finished on no. 9 in the 2012 rankings, and drew lots of comments in LinkedIn fora.
Mediation only made it into the top ten once, and only narrowly, tied with the third Vattenfall entry for tenth place. The post on the German Mediation Act, however, came in on no. 2 in the 2012 ranking.
This brings 2013 to a close – thanks for following the blog, and have a great 2014!