Media Release – 15 October 2018
ACICA 45, a new group for young and emerging practitioners in Australia, has launched this week on the occasion of Australia Arbitration Week in Melbourne.
ACICA 45 was founded in cooperation with the secretariat of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA) by senior lawyers across multiple firms. The Steering Committee comprises Deborah Tomkinson, ACICA, Ariane Owen (Allen & Overy), Caroline Swartz-Zern and Jon Blaney, (Allens), Anne Hoffmann and Chad Catterwell, (Herbert Smith Freehills), Edwina Kwan, (King & Wood Mallesons), Sylvia Tee, (Lipman Karas) and Erika Williams, (McCullough Robertson) and represents Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
Australia is a burgeoning market for international arbitration, as shown by the IBA Conference and ICCA Congress recently being held in Sydney. The appetite for learning about international arbitration from all practitioners including general dispute resolution lawyers has grown significantly in recent years. This group will respond to that need.
ACICA 45 hopes to work together with existing groups around the Australasian region to maximise opportunities for young and emerging practitioners. Although ‘45’ is in the title, ACICA 45 wants to ensure that second career practitioners are also included. ACICA 45 is committed to inclusiveness and diversity and for that reason will ask those joining ACICA 45’s mailing list to acknowledge a code of conduct for participating in ACICA 45 events.
Emerging practitioners are encouraged to sign up to the ACICA 45 mailing list by following this link: acica.org.au/acica.45
Caroline Swartz-Zern at Allens noted that “we are starting this group at a time when technology can really facilitate information sharing across jurisdictions. We also hope to use relationships we have around the region to expose practitioners in Australia to people and ideas that otherwise would have been more difficult to obtain.”
Chad Catterwell from Herbert Smith Freehills added: “There’s a growing group of next generation disputes lawyers in Australia that have a keen interest in international arbitration and we’re hoping to create a forum that brings those people together and helps them grow, just as other groups, such as HK45, have done in other jurisdictions. It’s an exciting initiative to be involved in.”
Alex Baykitch, President of ACICA stated “ACICA welcomes this exciting new initiative from young and emerging international arbitration practitioners in Australia. The calibre of international arbitration practitioners in Australia is world class and I look forward to seeing ACICA 45 develop as a platform in which young practitioners can exchange ideas, learn from each other and continue to promote Australia as a seat and centre of international arbitration in the region.”
