中国律师近日在美国仲裁协会的胜利再一次显示了中国律师正在增强的实力和信心。
在经历了两年的谈判—仲裁—调解—谈判的过程后，中伦律师团队作为一家香港控股公司的代理人，终于在美国仲裁协会的仲裁中为客户赢得约二百五十万美元的赔偿。该案对方为一家美国世界500强企业，目前其已经全额支付赔偿款项。
“由于仲裁地在美国， 而对手又很强大， 我们的客户准备放弃，但我们用实力说服客户，我们不仅能在仲裁中获胜，还能拿回应得的的赔款，” 霍伟告诉记者。
据了解，如果国际纠纷的仲裁地发生在海外时， 大多数中国企业会选择国外的律师，部分会由于高额的费用选择放弃，极少有人聘请中国律师。
在谈到中国律师的未来时，霍伟信心百倍，“实际上，越来越多的中国律师能说流利的英语并对国际法和国际仲裁的程序很熟悉。只要我们有足够的信心，我相信我们能做应付各种各样的国际纠纷。”
The competence and confidence of PRC companies and law firms using arbitration has improved, as the latest victory before the American Arbitration Association (AAA) shows.
The Eminent World, a Hong Kong holding company specializing in petroleum equipment distribution, filed an arbitration case against a US Fortune 500 company before the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) of the AAA. Eminent was seeking legal relief for commission payments that were overdue after wrongful termination of an agency agreement. It was represented by an advisory team from Zhong Lun, led by partner Wilson Huo (pictured), which, as the sole legal advisor, played a critical role in winning a US$2.5m award for its client. The two-year case went through the process of negotiation, arbitration, mediation and then negotiation again.
"Our client initially wanted to give up because the arbitration location was in the US, but we convinced our client to pursue the case as we believed that we would win,” said Huo. According to him, if an arbitration location is overseas, most Chinese enterprises will choose western lawyers, and some will discontinue due to expensive arbitration fees, but few enterprises will hire Chinese lawyers.
"In fact, with more Chinese companies and Chinese lawyers speaking fluent English and having a good understanding of international law and international arbitration procedures, we believe that Chinese clients and lawyers can definitely handle different international disputes,” said Huo. “My advice to Chinese lawyers and Chinese entrepreneurs is simple: be confident.” ALB
Number of international arbitration cases
| Year |
CIETAC |
HKIAC |
SIAC |
ICC
|
SCC
|
| 2009 |
559* |
309* |
114* (24 China-related cases) |
817* |
215*
|
| 2008 |
548* |
602 |
71* (20 China-related cases) |
663* |
74* |
*international arbitration matters only
*as of September 2010
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