When is the right time to leave big law and sit full-time as an arbitrator? Alex Wilbraham, Dana MacGrath and Jay Alexander share how they made the move from counsel to arbitrator. A candid NYLON Arbitration conversation on first appointments, building a practice without a law firm behind you and what really differs between arbitrating in New York and in London. In this "Poacher Turned Gamekeeper" session, supported by the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI), the three speakers explain how they entered international arbitration and how their first appointments came about: from arbitral institutions, from counsel they faced and from professional networks. They then discuss when to go independent, how to handle conflicts, insurance, IT and business development on your own, the role of arbitrator support structures such as Arbitra International, and how languages and subject-matter expertise open doors in other jurisdictions. The final part compares New York and London as arbitration hubs: community, advocacy culture (including the English skeleton), hearing centres, time zones and hybrid hearings. Speakers • Alex Wilbraham: independent arbitrator based in Washington, DC; member of Arbitra International; formerly in the international arbitration group of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Paris and Washington • Dana MacGrath: independent arbitrator based in New York; member of Arbitra International; former President of ArbitralWomen; formerly with Sidley Austin and the funder Omni Bridgeway • Jay Alexander: independent arbitrator; co-founder and former chair of the international arbitration practice of Baker Botts • Moderators: Flavia Mange, independent arbitrator based in Brazil and co-chair of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative; and Frederico Singarajah, barrister (Gatehouse Chambers) and member of NYLON Arbitration • Opening: Michael Fernández, NYLON Arbitration co-founder (then partner at Rivero Mestre; adjunct professor at Fordham Law School) Chapters 00:00 Welcome: NYLON Arbitration and the Rising Arbitrators Initiative 02:40 Introducing the speakers 05:20 How each speaker got into international arbitration 12:00 Does every practitioner want to be an arbitrator? First appointments 21:50 Building a career: appointments from opposing counsel and declaring independence 25:50 Brilliant but difficult: personality on the tribunal 28:00 When to leave big law and go full-time 35:00 Sitting as an arbitrator while still at a firm 38:00 Practising alone vs. joining a structure like Arbitra 43:30 From local to global: networks, conferences and jurisdictions 49:00 Languages and specialist areas as a door to appointments 51:00 New York vs. London: law firm and advocacy cultures 56:00 Arbitrator-specific, not country-specific 1:01:00 New York's arbitration community, NYIAC and the London skeleton argument 1:05:30 Enforcing a London award in US courts under the New York Convention 1:07:30 Practicalities: costs, hearing centres, time zones and hybrid hearings 1:17:50 Closing remarks Topics and references • Arbitrator support structures: Arbitra International • ICC, LCIA and AAA/ICDR appointments • New York International Arbitration Center (NYIAC), New York Arbitration Week and IDRC London • Skeleton arguments in English practice • New York Convention and the US Federal Arbitration Act: tolling of the limitations period to enforce a foreign award "Two nations separated by a common language" is a quote by George Bernard Shaw highlighting the differences in our two jurisdictions, despite the obvious similarities. In the context of international arbitration, the two powerhouses, New York and London, and their practitioners often operate in silos, with a level of distant but mutual admiration and respect. In this series of events, our team talk with the leading minds in the international arbitration field to discuss those similarities and differences in the laws and legal traditions, as long standing and established arbitration centres. We hope to do our bit to weave our cultures together and gain a better understanding of our respective practices. We have called this - NYLON Arbitration. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Arbitration Channel Brazil • https://www.youtube.com/canalarbitragem • https://www.linkedin.com/company/canalarbitragem/ • https://www.instagram.com/canalarbitragem/ • https://twitter.com/CArbitragem Arbitration Channel: • https://www.youtube.com/c/ArbitrationChannel Canal Arbitraje: • https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBvL4jtu6l_9vKDD6Sgcx8w #arbitrationchannel #internationalarbitration #arbitrators #NYLONArbitration #canalarbitragem

Our founders Frederico and Thais give an introduction to NYLON Arbitration from London.

Our founders Kabir and Michael give an introduction to NYLON Arbitration from New York City.