Covington Holds Second International Arbitration Academy

Covington Holds Second International Arbitration Academy

April 6, 2017

NEW YORK—Covington has partnered for the second year with Columbia Law School and its Center for International Commercial and Investment Arbitration to hold the Covington Academy on International Arbitration (CAIA). The program is open to Columbia’s J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. students.

The three-day program consists of training followed by practical exercises and live feedback in areas such as procedural strategy, witness interviews and preparation, pleadings and memorials, direct and cross-examination, effective use of documentary evidence, and oral argument. 

“Given the success of last year’s program, CAIA is oversubscribed again this year,” said Nicole Duclos, an arbitration partner in Covington’s New York office. “The idea is to offer students hands-on training followed by real-time exercises in areas that are commonly not covered by mock competitions in international arbitration. Like last year, a team of Covington partners and associates from New York, Washington, and London will participate.”

“CAIA is highly innovative and productive, and will benefit both newly-minted and more experienced young lawyers committed to a career in international commercial and investment arbitration,” said George Bermann, a Columbia Law Professor and Director of the Center for International Commercial and Investment Arbitration. “This program offers a concentrated practical training that law schools have a difficult time putting in place, and that no other law firm, to my knowledge, has made available to law school students interested in the field.” 

This year’s program will include participants from Bulgaria, Chile, El Salvador, France, India, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.