The scope and importance of International Commercial Arbitration (ICA) has expanded exponentially in the last few decades and has become the natural and logical method to resolve international business and economic disputes. This collective work captures the development of ICA from different perspectives and uniquely brings together the ideas, suggestions and perspectives of in-house counsel as the most important users of ICA, along with outside counsel, arbitrators themselves, and major arbitration organizations who all help provide the service. Most, if not all, of the contributing authors have served as counsel or arbitrator in arbitrations and have further contributed, through their writings, teachings or activities in arbitral and other institutions, to the evolution of ICA covered by this collective work. Accordingly, International Commercial Arbitration Practice: 21st Century Perspectives is an indispensable tool for the reader—practitioner, arbitrator, academic, magistrate or student—not only to obtain useful general information on ICA practice today, but especially and uniquely, to gain insightful views as to the influence of arbitration in the settlement of international commercial disputes in specific economic sectors, industries, and areas of economic and legal activity. International Commercial Arbitration Practice: 21st Century Perspectives brings the process alive and provides the reader with a useful practice guide whether he or she represents a client participating in an international commercial arbitration, is in-house counsel for a company considering arbitration as a possible method of dispute resolution, or is an arbitrator with cases at hand.

The book is organized in five Parts which contain thematically related chapters. Part I deals with an overview of key elements in ICA practice, and includes chapters on institutional and ad hoc arbitration; how arbitration is conducted under different legal systems such as common law, civil law, and Shari'a law; damages in ICA (both the legal and quantum aspects); corruption of arbitrators; and a chapter on cultural issues in international arbitration.

Part II contains geographical regional overviews covering most regions of the world: Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia/NIS countries, Asia (including China and Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, and the Indian Subcontinent), Middle East and North Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the U.S., Canada, and Australia & New Zealand. In 2016, we expanded the geographical scope of the publication to cover Singapore, reflecting that country's increasing importance as a venue for international commercial arbitration. As was done in the book's first release in 2010 where most chapters included sections on the impact of the worldwide financial crisis of 2008, many regional chapters in our 2020 release contain sections on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ICA there.

Part III includes individual industry sector views of how ICA is conducted in individual industry and business sectors such as oil & gas, LNG, mining, construction, telecommunications, satellite communications, intellectual property, sports, banking and finance, insurance and reinsurance, securities, shipping and maritime, corporate shareholder, and bankruptcy settings. These chapters are highly instructive because many of them were written by current or former in-house counsel in these industries or, in some cases, by outside counsel who focus on these industries.