On August 30, Singapore hosted a panel discussion, "The Art and Science of Arbitral Tribunal Composition," dedicated to the intricacies of the arbitrator appointment process. The panel was organized by the Russian Arbitration Center. At the event, arbitration experts discussed the issues relating to the appointment of arbitrators and shared effective strategies for addressing them.

Yan Kalish, Counsel of Dispute Resolution Practice at Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin and Partners law firm (RGD), participated in the discussion. In his speech, he explained the nuances and methods of interviewing candidates for the position of an arbitrator and the growing popularity of arbitrators from the Asian region for cases involving Russian parties, mentioning, however, that a noticeable number of arbitrators from the Western countries remain independent, neutral, and willing to accept appointments from the Russian parties. He also spoke about screening arbitrators using public sources, as well as the difference in approaches to such screening and interpretation of its results depending on which of the two parties the arbitrator is nominated by, and also in cases where it’s a candidate for the chairmanship.

The discussion was animated and wide-ranging; the attendees asked many questions and shared their experience.

This year, Yan Kalish was re-elected to the YSIAC Council for the EMEA region. This membership gives RGD an opportunity to establish and foster relations with the legal community of Singapore and arbitrators around the world.