On November 18, 2021, John Frangos, partner and deputy director of Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution department, spoke in an online session for the Practising Law Institute (PLI) titled “Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Strategic Enforcement of Arbitral Awards.” The session was part of a three-day PLI program on international investment law and settlement of disputes between investors and the state, organized to provide legal and investment professionals with an overview of the relevant law and practice in the area of international investment disputes, and to facilitate consideration of dispute resolution mechanisms such as international arbitration proceedings against states under international investment agreements. In his session, John was joined by experts from Africa and the Middle East, the Americas, and Europe. Each outlined strategic enforcement of arbitral awards in their respective region, and shared insights on how enforcement of arbitral awards can bring a conclusion to long-running international investment disputes with state actors. In attendance were attorneys and others investor representatives from around the world who were looking to better understand the process of international arbitration proceedings in investor-state disputes. For more details on the program, please visit the PLI website.

On November 12, 2021, Noppramart Thammateeradaycho, a counsel in Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution department, was invited by the director of the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) to become an honorary faculty member of the AIAC Academy for a term of one year. The AIAC recently formed the AIAC Academy to provide wide-ranging skills-based training for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) professionals. The AIAC Academy features certification programs and training courses on arbitration, mediation, adjudication, domain name dispute resolution, and other specialized and emerging ADR procedures. The AIAC Academy faculty is an honorary advisory committee of the AIAC Academy. Its members, consisting of regional specialists from across the ADR spectrum, shape, monitor, and direct the academy’s course offerings as well as its strategic long-term direction. They also rely on their expertise and experience to advise on the academy’s teaching-related policies and procedures, and meet periodically to discuss progress and developments. The AIAC is the key arbitral institute in Malaysia, offering a broad range of comprehensive and holistic ADR services. Known as the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration until 2018, the AIAC has evolved into a hub for ADR, with supporting facilities in one of Kuala Lumpur’s most historic buildings. Please see the AIAC website for more details on the organization and its latest news and announcements.

Tiziana Sucharitkul, co-managing partner of Tilleke & Gibbins and director of the firm’s dispute resolution department, spoke in two International Bar Association (IBA) webinars on law firm management and strategic direction. Tiziana appeared in her capacity as a member of the IBA Law Firm Management Committee, first in an IBA Global Showcase session on October 28, 2021, and then again at an IBA Officers’ Briefing on November 9. The first event brought together two panels of law firm managing partners from around the world to discuss the matters of greatest concern to the legal industry in a session titled “What is the Future of our Law Firms?” Together, the panelists discussed issued such as the return to physical offices, how best to serve clients, how to encourage and support collaboration among lawyers, and what pricing strategies will look like in the future. This session formed part of the week-long IBA Global Showcase—a global conference sharing knowledge and celebrating successes in law firm policy and practice. In the second session, open only to officers of the IBA, Tiziana was one of three guests interviewed about law firm transitions and strategy. Alongside managing partners from leading firms in India and the USA, Tiziana discussed how established family-run firms can evolve into regional powerhouses, taking examples from her own experience with Tilleke & Gibbins’ regionalization and growth over the past two decades. For more details on the IBA and the 2021 Global Showcase, please visit the IBA website.

On October 28, Darani Vachanavuttivong, as president of the ASEAN Intellectual Property Association (ASEAN IPA), led a forum focusing on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a proposed free trade agreement among the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and several other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Joined by a Malaysian minister of domestic and consumer affairs, a representative from Malaysia’s International Division of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, and a senior officer at Thailand’s Department of Intellectual Property, the session addressed the salient features of the RCEP, its importance, and some of its most significant implications for related industry and business operators within ASEAN.