Covington Holds Fourth International Arbitration Academy

Covington Holds Fourth International Arbitration Academy

March 28, 2019

NEW YORK—Covington has partnered with the Columbia Law School’s Center for International Commercial and Investment Arbitration to hold the fourth annual Covington Academy on International Arbitration (CAIA). A team of Covington partners and associates from New York, Washington, and London will participate in this year’s program, which 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.

“CAIA provides students with practical experience in international arbitration practice not typically covered in clinical programs or moot competitions,” said Nicole Duclos, a partner in Covington’s International Arbitration practice. “The students become fully immersed in every detail of their mock case, and their energy and creativity over the three-day program rivals that of a real arbitration hearing,” she said.

“Students interested in a career in international arbitration are fortunate to have the ‘hands-on’ opportunity that the Covington Academy affords them,” said George Bermann, a Columbia Law Professor and Director of the Center for International Commercial and Investment Arbitration. “I can think of no better complement to what the Law School is able to provide, and the feedback we receive from the program participants confirms that fact.”

This year’s program will include participants from Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, mainland China, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, and the United States.