Ethics in International Arbitration

Although international arbitration is a remarkably resilient institution, many unresolved and largely unacknowledged ethical quandaries lurk below the surface. With the expansion of world trade, the pool of parties, counsel, experts and arbitrators has become more numerous and more diverse, such that informal social controls are no longer a sufficient substitute for formal ethical regulation. At the same time, the international arbitration system has veered sharply toward more formal and transparent procedures, meaning that ethical transgressions are bound to become more evident and less tolerable. Despite these clear signals, regulation of various actors in the system-arbitrators, lawyers, experts and arbitral institutions-has not evolved to keep apace of these needs.

Ethics in International Arbitration provides a framework for developing much needed formal ethical rules and a reliable enforcement regime in the international arbitration system. Catherine Rogers accomplishes this goal in three parts. The first Part analyzes the underlying problems caused by the current lack of regulation and reveal how these problems affect modern international arbitration practice. The Second Part proposes a theoretical framework for resolving these conflicts so effective ethical rules can be developed to guide and regulate various participants' conduct, and the third part proposes integrated mechanisms for enforcing ethical rules.

Catherine Rogers is a professor at Penn State Law School, where she teaches and writes in the areas of international arbitration and professional legal ethics. Professor Rogers' scholarship focuses on the convergence of the public and private in international adjudication, and on the reconceptualization of the attorney as a global actor. Professor Rogers is an Associate Reporter for the American Law Institute's Restatement of the Law (Third) of International Commercial Arbitration. She has taught, lectured around the world and published extensively on topics of international arbitration and global legal ethics. Her scholarship has been selected for various prizes and distinctions, including two Stanford-Yale Junior Faculty Fora.