Professor Douglas Jones delivers DREx Talk on Use of Experts in International Arbitration

A DREx Talk on the “Use of Experts in International Arbitration” was recently delivered by International Arbitration Expert, Professor Douglas Jones, AO. The event was hosted by FTI Consulting at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture..The event commenced with Justice Rajiv Shakdher, of the Delhi High Court, introducing the topic and presenting his views on the role of experts in International arbitration in today’s time..At the outset, Justice Shakdher observed how arbitration has evolved as an effective alternate dispute resolution mechanism in a country like India where the judicial system is already overburdened with a large number of cases. He made note of how the role of experts has helped in this evolution by dealing with complex matters that need special expertise..Justice Shakdher elaborated as to how on the one hand, these experts help in speedier disposal of complex cases, while on the other hand, there is a tendency for most experts to bring their personal opinions and knowledge in the adjudicating arena, overshadowing and often interfering with their role as an expert..In the main talk of the event, Professor Douglas Jones, AO discussed in detail the role of experts in international arbitration. He observed that India in the past few years has developed in the field of arbitration which has aided Indian lawyers to create a niche in international arbitration..He discussed the prevailing practices as regards engagement of experts in arbitration in various Civil law and Common law jurisdictions, their differences as well as their implications in international arbitration. He also highlighted the difficulties faced by the common law countries with the hired-gun concept wherein the experts appointed develop a bias and modify their evidence as per the requirements of the parties and thus emphasised on the need of a proper mechanism to regulate the conduct of party appointed experts. .Professor Jones also explained in detail the Proactive Case Management strategies that can contribute effectively to the use of experts such as creating a list of expert issues and questions or providing the same data set to the experts to eliminate conflicting views. He shed some light on the concept of ‘hot-tubbing’ which originated in Australia, wherein the experts sat together in front of the Arbitral Tribunal to record their evidences, which enabled them to explore each other’s opinions through cross-examinations and questions set up by the Tribunal..Professor Jones’ talk was followed by an interactive session with the audience. Various questions were put up by the audience which had many former Judges, Senior lawyers, seasoned arbitration practitioners, young arbitration enthusiasts, law students and interns in attendance at the event..Montek Mayal, Managing Director, FTI Consulting later presented his concluding remarks, accompanied with a vote of thanks to the dignitaries for their enlightening presence.