Arbitration lawyers in London are seeking to help cement the city’s status as the leading centre for international arbitration with the inaugural London Arbitration Week (LAW), scheduled to take place from 1 to 5 December 2025.
It will be a five-day gathering designed to bring together key stakeholders from across the arbitration spectrum.
Practitioners, leading arbitral institutions, academics, in-house counsel and business leaders will converge in the City of London to tackle current and emerging issues in the field.
The programme will feature a series of events across various London venues, starting with a reception in Merchant Taylors’ Hall, alongside a full-day conference in London’s Guildhall, reflecting the City of London’s role as a hub of international legal expertise.
Peter Ashford, chair of the organising committee and one of the founders of LAW, said: “London is already the most popular seat of arbitration in the world, and it is only natural that it now has a dedicated Arbitration Week. This event will stand out as a carefully curated, focused series of events – an opportunity to exchange ideas, share perspectives and inspire new thinking.”
Ashford, formerly head of arbitration at Fox Williams and now a consultant arbitrator, is supported by leading arbitral organisations, including the London Court of International Arbitration, represented by Marie Sparkes, and the privately-owned International Dispute Resolution Centre, led by Damian Hickman.
Other organisers include Owen Lawrence’s Arbitra International and barristers’ chambers Gatehouse Chambers, with Frederico Singarajah serving as a director alongside Hickman and Ashford.
London continues to be recognised as one of the leading arbitral seats worldwide, as reflected in this year’s Queen Mary University and White & Case survey.
The programme of events seeks to emulate other city-focused gatherings such as Paris Arbitration Week, Dubai Arbitration Week and Hong Kong Arbitration Week.
The launch follows the Opening of the Legal Year, during which the new Lord Chancellor, David Lammy, emphasised London’s success in arbitration and the central role of English law in global commerce.
It follows a Law Society survey estimating that around 40% of international business transactions are governed by English law, as the preferred governing law for arbitration worldwide.
Sir Bernard Eder, one of the patrons of LAW, added: “This is an exciting opportunity to showcase the first-class nature of London’s arbitration offering. We look forward to welcoming colleagues from around the world for a week of discussion and debate, and hope attendees will be inspired by the innovation and dynamic nature of London’s legal landscape.”
By hosting LAW, the organisers hope to provide an additional forum for exchanging ideas and developing arbitral best practice, alongside LIDW, which was founded in 2019 and which this title supports as a media partner.
The LIDW organising committee has just announced the theme for the 2026 edition, which will take place from 1-5 June 2026, and is ‘Tradition, Trust and Transformation in Dispute Resolution’.
A spokesperson said: “In an era where global systems are being reshaped, this theme reflects both continuity and change within the legal industry. In this year’s theme, we acknowledge the core pillars that lay the foundations of the world-renowned London courts and arbitral institutions and look ahead to embracing the innovation that will drive London’s popularity for generations to come.”
They added: “LIDW brings together not only lawyers but also professionals from across the disputes ecosystem. Together, at #LIDW26, we will explore how these three pillars interact, evolve and shape the future of dispute resolution globally.”
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