Unequal at the Bar:
Do National Bar Rules Shape and Skew International Arbitration?

 Speaker: Kirsi Kannaste

Panel discussion

International arbitration operates across borders, yet counsel are confined by the professional conduct rules of their home jurisdictions with rules that differ substantially on matters such as privilege, witness preparation, conflicts of interest, and document production. These divergences can create structural asymmetries between parties: counsel on one side may be permitted to engage in conduct that opposing counsel is professionally prohibited from replicating. This session will examine whether such asymmetries constitute a rule of law problem and consider what regulatory or procedural responses are available.