On Thursday, Feb. 6 from 5-7 p.m. at the NSU Shepard Broad College of Law, NSU’s International Arbitration Society will host an “ Issues in International Arbitration” presentation. The focus will be tailored towards issues in international and state arbitration with topics such as the nationality of claims and state responsibility for acts of agents of the state. This presentation will feature a guest speaker, Srilal M. Perera, a retired professor of law from Washington College of Law of the American University, who served as legal counsel at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in the Hague, Netherlands from 1986 to 1989 and was a legal counselor for the President of the Tribunal from 1998-1989.
The event will be broken down into four main activities: a networking opportunity, a welcome from Davy Karkason, president of the NSU Law International Arbitration and organizer of the event, the main program discussion presented by Perera followed by a question and answer portion with the speakers in attendance.
According to Karkason, the purpose of the event is to invite undergraduate students to experience what it feels like to be in law school, as well as the opportunity to network with law students, professors and international lawyers. Karkason explained that, while this event may be technical, it is an opportunity for all students to develop a general understanding of international law and subject matter versus personal jurisdiction.
“This is quite a contemporary field… which has a lot of area to grow. The law surrounding international arbitration has evolved over the years. The law, therefore, has not been stabilized, if you will. This is a very dynamic field that young professionals can get into precisely because the principles are evolving and they so much depend on the relevant issues that have been discussed by arbitral tribunals. The rich jurisprudence that has evolved on these various issues are not strictly applicable because varying arguments and varying decisions have been made.” said Perera.
Other than the opportunity to speak with and learn from Perera’s personal experiences in the field, students will also have the opportunity to network with law firms that will be in attendance. This networking opportunity can help students specialize their interests and learn what it would be like to be a part of litigating cross-border issues or find experiences in these matters.
According to Perera’s experience from working for the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank Group, it is critical for young lawyers and interested students to understand how modern-day transactions occur and what they can lead to.
Perera explained that there is a large scope for advocacy and application of academic knowledge as well as practical knowledge or work experience in this field, which is why he feels he holds a unique position in providing his perspective on how to look at current issues in international arbitration.
“I really want to generate interest in this next generation of lawyers to look at some of these issues because they can be looked at and they are so involving. There is so much scope to look in different ways, to have more intellectual rigor and have a very successful practice if someone gets into this field,” said Perera.
This event is free and open to all NSU students, faculty and staff to attend. Those interested in this event are encouraged to RSVP prior to the event online at http://www.cvent.com/events/nsu-law-issues-in-international-arbitration-cle/event-summary-6b20ebab23a547898648956732af60ae.aspx. Students are encouraged to ask any questions to Perera as well as the NIAS society.
Photo: S. Pichler
