Hold on to our (arbitral) seats | Case by Case (Ep. 86)

Case: UniCredit Bank vs. RusChemAlliance

Guest: Dr Paul Macmahon, Associate Professor of Law at the LSE Law School and the Director of the Executive LLM Programme

Summary
In this episode of the podcast, hosts Luke Zadkovich and Calum Cheyne welcome Paul McMahon, an associate professor of law at LSE, to discuss the complexities of determining the governing law of arbitration agreements under English law following the UK Supreme Court decision in UniCredit Bank vs. RusChemAlliance. In this conversation, the speakers delve into this topic’s substantive and procedural complexities and practical effects. They focus on the Supreme Court considerations concerning the law of the main contract and the law of the arbitral seat. They also discuss the role of English law, forum non conveniens, and anti-suit injunctions concerning the nuanced topic of the applicable law to the arbitration agreement.

Guest’s background:
Paul MacMahon is an Associate Professor of Law at the LSE Law School and the Director of the Executive LLM Programme. His primary interests are contracts, commercial law, and international arbitration. Before coming to the LSE, Paul taught at Harvard and Cambridge. He studied at Oxford (BA, BCL, DPhil) and Harvard (JD), and served as a law clerk in the United States for Judge Guido Calabresi and Judge John Gleeson. Paul also worked as a litigation lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York City and remains a member of the New York Bar. In addition to teaching at LSE, Paul is a regular Visiting Professor at Católica Global School of Law in Lisbon. He has served as an expert on English law in foreign court proceedings.

Keywords arbitration, governing law, international law, dispute resolution, legal education, LinkedIn, sanctions, jurisdiction, commercial law, contracts, jurisdiction, governing law, arbitration, English law, Enka decision, anti-suit injunctions, international arbitration, legal implications, arbitration agreements, Supreme Court