Launch AFSIA Newsletter

Dear Alumni and Friends of the School of International Arbitration,

As Steering Committee of AFSIA, the Alumni and Friends of the School of International Arbitration at the Center of Commercial Law Studies of Queen Mary University of London, we are proud to present our first AFSIA newsletter. Our goal is not to be the next publication in the field, but rather to keep you informed on a regular basis of what is going on at Lincoln's Inn Fields and of initiatives organised by AFSIA, its National Committees or SIA Alumni. With the same purpose, we have also relaunched our website, which can be visited at www.afsia.org.

The launch of this newsletter comes only shortly after a successful roundtable on issues of investment alongside the Frankfurt Moot on 14 March. These two events end a period of relative silence following our successful inaugural conference on issues of enforcement of arbitral awards in London in December 2008. This inaugural conference was indeed followed by a lengthy period away from the spotlight - only interrupted by a successful roundtable organised in conjunction with the Brazilian AFSIA National Committee in Rio De Janeiro last summer - during which we organized and even reorganized ourselves internally as a Steering Committee and furthermore reached out to alumni in various jurisdictions to create a sublevel of National Committees.

I would therefore like to take this opportunity to briefly reintroduce AFSIA.

Since the establishment of the School of International Arbitration in 1985, hundreds of students from all around the world have successfully completed courses at the School during their LL.M., postgraduate studies or distance learning programmes or have completed Phd research. After their time at the School, many of these students have remained active in the field of arbitration as practitioners, academics, within international organizations involved in arbitration or as arbitrators. Considering that the invaluable potential of networking opportunities amongst these former students had largely been left unexplored, AFSIA was founded in June 2008 to bring together these alumni of the School of International Arbitration. As suggested by the “F” in our name, however, AFSIA’s objectives go beyond that of a traditional alumni organization. AFSIA also reaches out to "Friends" of the School. Firstly, we target those who have been involved with the School in some capacity other than as student, through the School’s activities and contacts with the academic world as well as with legal practice and various organizations involved in international arbitration. Secondly, our organization is open to academics and practitioners who are active in the field of arbitration and, as a result of these activities, have an interest in being informed of the activities of the School of International Arbitration or are interested in initiatives organized by AFSIA or the AFSIA National Committees. Membership to AFSIA is free and requires only the completion of a form on our website www.afsia.org/membership.

In charge of AFSIA is the Steering Committee, which oversees its activities on a global level. Under the AFSIA umbrella, a number of National Committees operate at national or regional level.

The AFSIA Steering Committee consists of 6 members and is divided in three focus groups:

• First, an Academic Group, consisting of Dr. Stavros Brekoulakis at Queen Mary, University of London and Dr. Sabine Konrad of K&L Gates, who are in charge of taking and supporting initiatives to exchange knowledge, including the organization of academic events such as the Roundtable Event of 14 March 2011;
• Second, a Communication Group, consisting of Prof. Vikki Rogers at Pace University and myself, which is in charge of the AFSIA website and all other AFSIA communication, such as the AFSIA Newsletter, of which the first edition is foreseen for the end of this month;
• Finally, a National Committees Group, consisting of Mr. Paolo Esposito of Studio Legale Esposito and Ms. Clare Connellan of White & Case. This group encourages the setting up of National Committees and serves as a link between these National Committees and the Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee is further assisted by Ms. Katherine Zaim at Queen Mary University University and Ms. Christine Goodrich.

At present, 13 National Committees have been appointed in countries ranging from Nigeria, to the US to Portugal, with contacts for further appointments pending. This sublevel constitutes a strong local basis to AFSIA’s international network and reduces (both literally and figuratively) the distance between alumni and friends active in these jurisdictions. These smaller scale organisations allow to overcome some of the practical and logistical difficulties experienced on an international level. Our hope is therefore that the successful example set by the Brazilian National Committee at the occassion of the ICCA Convention taking place in Rio de Janeiro, receives a following from other National Committees in the future.

In the first issue of this newsletter, we talk a.o. to Sandra Baird, who recently retired after being more than 12 years at the heart of the School of International Arbitration, stand still by the SIA's nomination for a GAR Award, and give a recap of the Roundtable Conference on Current Issues in Investment Arbitration of 14 March 2011. 

If you would like to get involved in or get in touch with a National Committee, please do not hesitate to contact us at national_committees@afsia.org. Suggestions or comments on this newsletter are welcome on communication@afsia.org, where we also look forward to receiving news from Alumni for potential publication in future editions.

We hope you enjoy the reading,

Best regards,

On Behalf of the AFSIA Steering Committee,

Maarten Draye
Chair