About Us
History
Founded in 1986, the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) was created to educate business executives, government officials and lawyers about arbitration as a means of resolving transnational business disputes and to promote global adherence to the world's principal arbitration treaties. Through its programs, scholarly publications and membership activities, led by many of the top global experts and supported by many of the world’s most actively engaged corporations, law firms, academics and individual practitioners, ITA has become an important global forum on contemporary issues in the field of international arbitration.
Mission
The mission of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration is to provide leading educational and professional activities for legal counsel, arbitrators, business executives, government officials, academics and other professionals through programs and publications that examine, critique and seek to improve the practice and study of international arbitration and provide opportunities to enhance the arbitration community.
Programs
The annual ITA Workshop in Texas each June is widely recognized as the leading conference in the field in the United States. As one member summarized succinctly, “It is the forum in which legitimate top practitioners gather annually. Thus, the topics are sophisticated, the networking is legitimate, and the social element is valuable.”
Other annual programs, all consistently rated "excellent" by participants, include the ITA Americas Workshop, held in different capital cities in Latin America, the ITA-ASIL Spring Conference in Washington, D.C., the ITA Conference on International Arbitration in the Mining Sector in Toronto, Canada, and the ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration in Houston and elsewhere.
Publications
KluwerArbitration.com and ITA Arbitration Report
ITA is a founding sponsor of KluwerArbitration.com, the most comprehensive, up-to-date portal for international arbitration resources on the Internet. In additiona, the ITA Arbitration Report, a free email subscription service available at KluwerArbitration.com, is prepared by the ITA Board of Reporters, delivering timely reports on awards, cases, legislation and other current developments from over 60 countries. The Reports are organized by country, and come together with reports on new treaty ratifications, new publications and upcoming events around the globe.
World Trade and Arbitration Materials
World Trade and Arbitration Materials is edited by ITA and published six times per year by Kluwer International. It is a resource for the texts of the most important current documents relating to international trade and international arbitration not readily available elsewhere.
ITA in Review
ITA in Review, ITA’s e-journal, offers scholarly articles, practical analyses, book reviews, short comments and multimedia presentations on key developments in the field of international dispute resolution, together with information on developments within the ITA community.
News & Notes and Scoreboard of Adherence to Transnational Arbitration Treaties
The Scoreboard of Adherence to Transnational Arbitration Treaties is a comprehensive, regularly updated report on the status of every country’s adherence to the primary international arbitration treaties. It is published on ITA’s website and in ITA’s quarterly newsletter, News and Notes, which is delivered by mail and email free to all members.
ITAFOR and Online Reference Guide to Latin American Arbitral Institutions
The ITA Latin American Arbitration Forum (ITAFOR) is a primarily Spanish-Portuguese language listserv designed to foster discussion on arbitration and ADR topics pertinent to Latin America. As a listserv, it is an easy-to-use medium available to all who have email. A subscriber simply sends an email to the listserv email address and the message is then automatically sent to all subscribers. ITAFOR subscriptions are open to all. To ensure quality, candid colloquy as well as respect for all, participants must adhere to published Guidelines.
ITA’s Online Reference Guide to Latin American Arbitral Institutions identifies and introduces the leading arbitral institutions in Latin America. It is regularly updated through periodic surveys of the institutions themselves.
Educational videos and books
ITA’s educational videos and books are produced through its Academic Council to aid professors, students and practitioners of international arbitration. Consisting of mock arbitration scenes and expert commentaries on key stages in commercial and investment arbitrations, ITA educational videos are now available on USB, DVD and in a variety of options online at our Online Video Library.
Legal Educators Resources Collection
The International Dispute Resolution Legal Educators Resources Collection is maintained by the ITA Academic Council and is designed to collect and share syllabi, teaching notes, exams, and other original teaching materials prepared by international arbitration and dispute resolution instructors from around the world.
Membership
Membership in the Institute for Transnational Arbitration is available to corporations, law firms, professional and educational organizations, government agencies and individuals. According to a recent professional survey of ITA members:
"Overall, members view ITA as a top-notch, high quality and satisfying organization that meets their primary needs of networking and professional development…[the percentage of ITA members who are] satisfied or very satisfied with their membership in ITA [is] a figure that is higher than we typically see in membership surveys of this nature."
Though membership is not required to participate in ITA programs, the benefits of membership more than compensate the cost, both financially and professionally. Additionally, your membership and participation support the activities of one of the world’s leading forums on international arbitration today.
Organization
The Institute is comprised of its Members, its Advisory Board, its Advisory Board committees, its Executive Committee, its Academic Council, its Board of Reporters, and its staff. The Advisory Board is comprised of designated representatives of all Members. The Executive Committee of the Advisory Board meets twice a year, in connection with the Annual ITA Workshop iin June and the ITA Winter Forum. It oversees the activities of the Institute, establishes policy and identifies new leaders. The Academic Council consists of 40 leading professors in the U.S. and abroad and oversees the ITA-ASIL Conference and our educational video products. It meets three times a year, in connection with the ITA Workshop, the ITA-ASIL Conference and the ITA Winter Forum. The Board of Reporters, now including over 60 reporters covering 55 countries, provides regular updates on current developments in the field for publication online in the ITA Arbitration Report. It meets annually in connection with the ITA Workshop. The ITAFOR Moderators, Contributors and Council members ensure that this Spanish-Portuguese language listserv remains current, lively and informative for the benefit of the Latin American arbitration community.
The Advisory Board
Much of the Institute’s work is done through the Advisory Board, and its committees. All Advisory Board members may join any practice committee of interest to them. The current practice committees of the ITA are: the Americas Initiative Committee (open to Advisory Board members practicing or interested in Latin America) and the Young ITA Committee (open to Advisory Board members and other young professionals under 40 years old).
The ITA Advisory Board and its committees meet for business and social activities each June in connection with the annual ITA Workshop. Other committee activities occur in connection with the annual ITA Americas Workshop, the annual ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration and throughout the year.