IBA Litigation Committee: Impact of COVID-19 on Court Operations and Litigation Practice

IBA LOGOThe IBA Litigation Committe has produced a survey looking at the impact of COVID-19 on court operations and litigation practice across 37 different jurisdictions – from Argenina to the United States. Jeff Galway and Urs Hoffmann-Nowotny served as general editors and I had the honour of contributing the chapter on Germany. The plan is to update the survey as matters develop in the various jurisdictions. Here’s the link to the IBA Litigation Committe homepage and here is a link to the report in its current form. Continue reading

From Germany to China: The Nitty-Gritty of International Service, How To Fill In Forms and What To Translate

Issues of international service are often rather mundane, not to say, boring technicalities. Nevertheless, in international litigation, service abroad is the eye of the needle through which every dispute must go. A recent judgment by the Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) is therefore highly welcome, as it addresses technicalities such as the interpretation of a certificate of service from the Chinese Central Authority under the Hague Service Convention, and the extent to which documents that support a statement of claim (Klageschrift) must be translated into the Chinese language, in order for service in China to be effective. Continue reading

CIETAC Administered Arbitrations: Internal Conflicts Cause Uncertainty

Disputes between the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”) and its sub-commissions in Shanghai (“CIETAC Shanghai”) and Shenzhen (“CIETAC South China”) currently cause significant legal uncertainty. In a post at the Kluwer Arbitration Blog, we discuss this topic, and the legal risks these internal issues at CIETAC create  for parties that have agreed on CIETAC arbitration clauses.