The NSW Bar Association has followed its
Victorian counterpart and joined Australia's premier arbitration
body.
The NSW Bar Association has joined the
Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA) as a corporate
member.
The Victorian Bar Association joined ACICA
in January 2011, with the NSW Bar Association's decision to follow suit meaning
that it joins corporate members including Mallesons Stephen Jaques, DLA Piper,
Allens Arthur Robinson and the Sapere Research Group.
"We are confident more work will flow to
barristers from this membership," said NSW Bar Association alternative dispute
resolution (ADR) Committee chair Angela Bowne
SC when contacted by Lawyers Weekly. "Arbitration, both internationally
and domestically, has been the province of the law firms. What the Bar
Association understands is that the law firms welcome the move of barristers
into arbitration because there wasn't that many barristers involved before, and
it gives them a wider selection if they want to use barristers."
The profile of international and large
scale commercial arbitration has been boosted in Australia in recent years. In 2010,
the Australian International Disputes Centre (AIDC) was opened in Sydney, while
the ACICA president, Clayton Utz partner Doug Jones, became the first
Australian to head the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, which has 12,000
global members, last year.
Recent changes in legislation, such as
ACICA becoming the sole default appointing authority under the Commonwealth International
Arbitration Act, the introduction of pre-litigation requirements in Federal
Court matters that seek to encourage parties to solve disputes prior to
commencing litigation action, and the inserting of dispute resolution clauses
in large domestic commercial contracts has meant that ADR skills are becoming increasingly
important for lawyers and barristers that work in litigation.
"We strenuously
impress upon members they have to be knowledgeable about ADR," said Bowne. "The
Bar rules requires them to advise clients on alternatives to fully contested
litigation."
ACICA president Doug Jones said the
corporate base of ACICA was strengthened by having the two largest Australian
Bar associations as members.
