ARBITRATION

While it used to be mainly major companies who had their disputes about cross-border contract relationships decided by arbitration tribunals, nowadays increasingly more medium-sized companies agree on arbitration clauses in their national or international contracts.

One reason for this is the globalisation of the economy which makes the parties to a contract draw on well-tried international arbitration rules as the procedural rules applicable for disputes arising from international legal transactions. However, in many cases – even more so in domestic legal arrangements – the reasons are of a less “jurisprudential” nature. For instance, the parties are often afraid of the excessively long duration of a legal proceeding before the ordinary courts, especially if this goes through several instances. Or the parties want to make sure that their dispute is not aired in public. This wish for confidentiality is the main reason why the inclusion of an arbitration clause has, for instance, become common practice for cooperation agreements among freelancers (e. g. group practice or practice sharing agreements among doctors, partnership agreements among lawyers, tax advisors, public accountants). 

Due to the firm’s competence in commercial and medical law, BDKD often represents one of the parties or our lawyers act as arbitrators in arbitration proceedings.