By Joe Khalaf, Maria Palmou and Ahmed Ziad Galadari

Dubai Arbitration Week 2022 was a hit. Not only was it very well attended by arbitration lawyers and pundits gathered from all four corners of the globe, but each of the sessions were overbooked and enjoyed by all. As an Emirati law firm, Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants were really pleased to have welcomed the arbitration community to its home.

Our arbitration practice, partnered with colleagues at White & Case, hosted a panel on “Multi-tiered dispute resolution clauses in construction contracts: enforcing agreements, decisions, and awards.” Here, we took an international as well as a UAE perspective on the various dispute resolution phases before arriving at the arbitration stage. This involved a deep dive into foreign and domestic mediation; expert determinations and Disputes Adjudication Board (DAB) decisions, including a discussion of the enforcement of interim awards; and the enforcement of arbitral awards in the UAE – a topic of interest to many of our international visitors.

Dubai Arbitration Week maintained its energy throughout the week and we hosted a full-house seminar on the final day, titled “Arbitration and/in the Metaverse”. The panelists, Senior Counsel Sergejs Dilevka, Senior Associate Maria Palmou and Advocate Ahmad Ziad Galadari demonstrated a live mock arbitration hearing in the metaverse using Oculus Quest 2 Virtual Reality headsets.

Sergejs provided an insightful presentation on some practical considerations of arbitrations in the Metaverse and queried whether the legislation in the UAE was in line with the technological developments. He pointed out key arbitration centers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have already introduced the use of technology to enhance remote arbitration proceedings and shared that the ADGM Arbitration Centre was launching the world’s first “mediation in the metaverse” service which is set to “revolutionize the delivery of mediation across the globe.” Andreas Baand Larsen, CEO of MeetinVr, explained the technical aspect of the Metaverse and how it can be used in other ways to help conduct meetings and conferences. Galadari panelists and Andreas conducted a very informative, interactive, technical and legal focused open-floor question and answer session. The audience asked about the practical aspects surrounding the topic, including the jurisdiction which will apply for virtual hearings and the real-world penalty for crimes in the metaverse.

If you are interested in speaking to Joe on multi-tiered dispute resolution clauses please contact him directly on joe.khalaf@galadarilaw.com. To view a recording of our session, or to know more about virtual arbitrations, please email marketing@galadarilaw.com.