an excerpt from ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION 2001 EDITION
published by the llinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education

© 2001 by Stephen E. Smith

III. Drafting the International Arbitration Agreement

R. [23.24] Non-Administered Arbitration (without designated set of rules)

Most of this discussion has so far envisioned an ad hoc arbitration. This provision addresses a full clause for such a "non-administered" arbitrations. Obviously, if the parties choose to use an arbitral institution and to adopt its rules, these various clauses become moot.

Three of the best-known arbitration institutions are the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration, the London Court of International Arbitration, and the American Arbitration Association. Each has its own rules. An excellent and detailed comparison of these three organizations as well as many others worldwide is made in A. Redfern & M. Hunter, LAW AND PRACTICE OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION (3d ed. 1999).

Additionally, we in Illinois are fortunate to have in force The Illinois International Commercial Arbitration Act, See §23.2. We are also fortunate to have here in Chicago an international arbitral institution, The Chicago International Dispute Resolution Association (CIDRA). CIDRA’s website, www.cidra.org, contains its arbitration and mediation rules, its fees and a roster of its neutrals with biographical sketches. It is now possible to resolve international disputes cheaply and expeditiously with "top flight" neutrals without leaving town.