ArbitralWomen Newsletter Uniting and promoting women in dispute resolution www.arbitralwomen.org Issue 33 | June 2019 Inside Issue Nº 33 ArbitralWomen’s 2019 Annual General Meeting in Vienna, the Vis Moot, and President’s Column 2 more! Women Leaders in ArbitralWomen held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Vienna Arbitration: Cecilia 3 on 14 April 2019 kindly hosted by the law firm Knoetzl. The AGM Flores Rueda followed a successful morning event co-organised by Knoetzl and Vis Moot and Vis East ArbitralWomen on Careers in International Arbitration attended by 5 2019 more than 100 practitioners, arbitrators, academics, in-house law- Report on 2019 AGM 10 yers and students. The Agenda included reports by ArbitralWomen Committees on the Association’s work and activities in 2018 and Reports on Events 15 early 2019, while looking forward to continuing our good work and initiatives. Interview with Cecilia Flores Vis Moot 2019 ArbitralWomen 2019 AGM Rueda Page 3 Page 5 Page 10 June 2019 Newsletter President’s Column 2019 during the Vis Moot. This re- This has been a busy first port describes both the AGM itself, half of 2019 for ArbitralWomen kindly hosted by Knoetzl, as well and its Members! We have re- as the work of the ArbitralWomen ceived so many reports on events Board generally in 2018. in early 2019 from Members that Fourth, we have a section ded- we cannot cover them all in one icated to reports on events submit- Newsletter issue. In this respect, ted by our Members. As previously our June 2019 Newsletter is Part 1 of 2 (we will publish another mentioned, due to the many number of reports, the date Newsletter in July 2019 containing the additional event reports). span for such events in this issue is mainly through March In this issue, first we feature an interview ofCecilia Flores 2019. Reports from Members on events since April 2019 will Rueda, an arbitration expert from Latin America who has be published in our July 2019 Newsletter. served in a number of roles in the dispute resolution com- Finally, in our section on Women’s Initiatives in Their munity. In her interview by ArbitralWomen Board Member Workplace, we report on Shearman & Sterling’s work Maria Beatriz Burghetto, Cecilia describes her experience to promote professional equality and diversity. In March leading the Mediation and Arbitration Centre of CANACO in 2019, Sherman was awarded the inaugural Grand Prize for Mexico City, her perspectives on gender diversity in Latin Professional Equality from the Paris Bar in recognition of its America and experience as a practitioner and arbitrator, her contribution to the promotion of equality. The firm’s work in career advice for women and what she sees as the future of this area and the group Shearman#Elles is described in this international dispute resolution. section, with comments by Yas Banifatemi and Emmanuel Second, we continue our tradition of annually publishing Gaillard of Shearman’s Paris office. news and reports on the Vis Moots. ArbitralWomen has This Newsletter is the result of the incredibly hard work supported teams participating the Vis Moots for many years. and dedication of our Newsletter team lead by Board Member In this section, we present the Moot Directors’ Board Report Erika Williams. As you read this, the Newsletter team is busily by Juliette Fortin, Affef Ben Masour and Karen Mills that preparing the July 2019 Newsletter. Many thanks to all who describes ArbitralWomen’s work in this area, together with make our Newsletters possible! reports from a Vis East Moot Arbitrator and several teams whose financial sponsorship was provided or coordinated by ArbitralWomen, including the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Hidayatullah National Law University, University of Lagos, and University of Costa Rica. Dana MacGrath, Bentham IMF Third, we report on the 2019 ArbitralWomen Annual DanaArbitralWomen MacGrath President General Meeting (AGM) that took place in Vienna on 14 April 2 Women Leaders in Arbitration Cecilia Flores Rueda ArbitralWomen Board member, María Cecilia has been practicing law for the past 20 years in Beatriz Burghetto, interviewed Cecilia Flores private practice, as officer of an arbitration institution Rueda, one of the arbitration practitioners featured and as arbitrator. We share with our readers Cecilia’s in ArbitralWomen’s Women Pioneers in Dispute wide-ranging experience. Resolution, 2nd edition, and a fellow Latin American. Can you tell us about your experience at the every time the Commission is expected to appoint or pro- Mediation and Arbitration Centre of CANACO, pose arbitrators, it endeavours to include them among the Mexico City National Chamber of Commerce? candidates. However, there is still a long way to go, for users I joined CANACO as Secretary General in 1999 and stayed to decide on a female candidate. in that position for 6 years. I subsequently acted as member and, later, Director of the CANACO Mediation and Arbitration What can you tell us about your professional life Commission for a term of three years. I had no experience in after CANACO? arbitration prior to taking up the position of Secretary General, Upon leaving the Centre, I acted as counsel, representing so I can say I learned the ropes there and that experience was parties in international arbitrations. In 2006 I took part in the very useful later in my career. quantification phase of a very large arbitration, the largest in Latin America in terms of amount in dispute (CONPROCA v. Did you face any challenges in your positions at Pemex). After this, I joined a US based law firm as Of-Counsel CANACO? If so, what have been your major chal- and later, in 2015, I set up my own law firm, where I began lenges as a woman at the head of this organisation? to undertake more cases as an arbitrator, appointed both by At the time I joined CANACO, the Commission had just institutions and parties. I kept giving lectures and presentations been set up, even though the institution had administered on arbitration at international events. I have also been teaching arbitration cases for many years, but not in an organised arbitration for the past 20 years at the La Salle University’s manner. We had to organise the arbitration centre, modern- International Business Master. I am a member of the ICC ise its arbitration rules, establish the Commission, set up the Arbitration Commission and early in 2019 I was appointed to website, generally promote arbitration, in order to increase act as Counsel for the Institute of Transnational Arbitration. the number of cases managed by the Commission and also contribute to rendering the practice of arbitration more profes- What is the percentage of women in your opinion sional. Perhaps the major challenge was to convince potential acting as arbitrators, mediators, lawyers or else in users of the advantages of dispute resolution mechanisms. your environment or your country? As a woman, 20 years ago, it wasn’t easy to be head of Unfortunately, there are no statistics in Mexico in this an old guard chamber, giving directions and taking decisions. regard and there is not much mediation in Mexico, either; but Luckily, I had the support of the members of the Commission. I see more and more women in arbitration trying to break through and be considered in Mexico. A couple of years ago I Please tell us more about the CANACO Mediation acted as Chair of a very impressive all-female arbitral tribunal. and Arbitration Centre. Nevertheless, there are still occasions when only one or two The Arbitration and Mediation Rules of the Centre are women participate in arbitration cases. based on the UNCITRAL Rules. The Commission ad- ministers domestic and international arbitration You have been involved in international arbitration and mediation cases and, when it must appoint for 20 years. How has the field changed during that arbitrators or when parties ask for candidates, span of time in Mexico / Latin America / the World? it uses its database and chooses the right can- The community has realised the importance of including didate(s) for each case, depending on its spe- women for the benefit of the practice and there is increas- cific characteristics, to either appoint them or ing female participation, although there is still a long way propose a list of names to the parties. The to go. Indeed, female participation is notably increasing on Commission appoints foreign and foreign- conference panels, but it still needs to improve in arbitrator -based arbitrators. appointments. Also, several law firms have signed the Equal As to female arbitrators, although the Representation in Arbitration Pledge, but the important thing Commission has no express policy to ap- is to put it into practice. Parties themselves must be aware of point or propose women as arbitrators, the importance of having women in different roles, such as 3 June 2019 Newsletter arbitrators, lawyers, experts, because this enriches the debate of adversity or setbacks, which are part of life: you need to get and strengthens decisions taken in arbitration. the most out of these and rise, no matter how many times you fall, like the Phoenix from the ashes, with renewed passion, What do you see as the future of international dis- courage and perseverance. pute resolution? Hopefully, a field of equal opportunities, based on equal Is there any particular issue that you feel needs qualifications. immediate attention or is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers? Do you have advice for women seeking to further Just keep the spirit high, do not be discouraged! their careers in alternative dispute resolution? I would just note that the key is one’s attitude in the face Interviews with Women Leaders in Dispute Resolution ArbitralWomen has been in Latin America: Diana Droulers, Exec- Since then, we have consist- conducting and publishing interviews utive Director of the Arbitration Centre ently published interviews of other of many amazing women in dispute of the Caracas Chamber (Venezuela), prominent women leaders in dispute resolution since 2013.