Today, London International Disputes Week (LIDW26) kicks off with its International Arbitration Day (IAD). Three venues – Gibson Dunn, Debevoise & Plimpton, and 3 Verulam Buildings – are hosting keynote addresses, discussions, debates and dialogue.
This year’s LIDW comes as the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) pursues three connected lines of work: revising its rules, refreshing the composition of its Court and placing its people into discussions that will shape arbitration’s future in its home in London, including at IAD.
That matters because the institution’s international character is measurable rather than rhetorical. Over the past six years, the LCIA has administered cases involving parties from 161 jurisdictions, across 70 seats and applying 99 substantive laws. In a typical year, around 85% of parties in LCIA arbitrations are from outside the UK.
The rules review is the most visible part of that programme. The LCIA launched its public consultation in March to inform the next editions of its Arbitration Rules and Mediation Rules. Phase one closed on 11 May. As director-general Kevin Nash explains: “Over the next few months, the LCIA Rules Revision Committees will review all the submissions received. There will then be a second round of community feedback later in the year, with publication of new Rules anticipated in 2027.”
The current rules date from 2020. Since then, technology has moved closer to the centre of legal practice, arbitration laws have changed and geopolitical pressures have become harder to treat as background noise.
The consultation is not a cosmetic drafting exercise. The LCIA has identified a wide range of possible pressure points: expedited procedures, emergency arbitrator provisions, early determination, coordination of related disputes, third-party funding disclosure, the possible anonymised publication of awards, cost reform, ADR integration, AI guardrails, cybersecurity, data protection and provisions for state and state-owned enterprise disputes.
That breadth suggests this is an institution testing where procedural friction has accumulated, rather than chasing novelty in rules revision. A modern rules package cannot be credible merely because it addresses fashionable topics. It must reflect how users, tribunals and institutions experience real cases, while remaining workable across legal cultures and sectors.
Consultation matters to the LCIA. With the strong foundations laid by former LCIA president Paula Hodges KC and former board chair Audley Sheppard KC (the current president of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA)), Nash, who took over from Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof at the start of 2025, has steered the LCIA adroitly forward from his predecessor’s era, ensuring it listens closely and acts positively.
The timing is significant. The International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC’s) revised Arbitration Rules take effect today (1 June). But the LCIA’s own rules revision exercise should not be reduced to a competitive comparison exercise. The question is which procedural changes best suit the LCIA’s established rules and user base. This is about itself and its users, not its rivals.
The second strand is the renewal of the LCIA Court. New appointments took effect on 20 May.
Nania Owusu-Ankomah of Ghanaian firm Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah has been promoted from court member to vice president. Carine Dupeyron of Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier, Indian senior advocate and arbitrator Shashank Garg, and Reza Mohtashami KC of Three Crowns have joined as members. Raëd Fathallah of Bredin Prat, Marie Berard of King & Spalding and Artem Doudko of Dentons have stepped down, with Berard continuing on the LCIA board.
These are not ceremonial changes. The court is the final authority for the proper application of the LCIA Rules. Its functions include appointing tribunals, determining challenges to arbitrators and controlling costs. Its composition is one of the practical ways in which an arbitral institution demonstrates judgment.
Nash said the appointments strengthen the court “in exactly the right way”, recognising Owusu-Ankomah’s work with the African Users’ Council while adding specialist experience in common law and civil law systems and across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and India.
LCIA president Maxi Scherer, who took up the role last month, put the point in institutional terms: “These appointments reflect the LCIA court’s continued focus on excellence, diversity of experience, and institutional strength.”
Nash also links the appointments directly to the rules exercise: “The recent court appointments and the rules consultation show that the LCIA is further strengthening the judgment behind the institution and its blue-chip procedural framework.
“Members of the court and board have led major institutions, worked through rules revisions, and seen how procedural choices play out in real cases. Heading into my fifth rules revision exercise, I know this kind of domain knowledge helps, but the important part is still the consultation. The early response from the community has been encouraging, and that gives us a strong platform to get this right.”
The third strand is the LCIA’s visibility during LIDW26. The institution’s presence is extensive rather than symbolic, with members of its board, court and secretariat appearing across a broad range of events.
The week begins with IAD, where Scherer is involved in a session on energy arbitration, deputy registrar Wing Shek will speak on arbitrator selection, and Owusu-Ankomah will join a panel on persuasion, procedure and tactics.
Nash is due to appear across a series of sessions during the week, including the LCIA Symposium, a discussion on the role of mediation within arbitration, a Bench and Bar conversation focused on India and Asia, a panel on arbitral rules and a Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG) session on arbitration in a turbulent global landscape.
Other LCIA speakers are involved in discussions covering AI claims, AI-assisted adjudication, technology and due process, emergency arbitration, arbitral institutions and defence-sector disputes.
That range is important. It places the LCIA firmly within London’s broader disputes ecosystem rather than utilising LIDW as a promotional platform for a single city, institution or mode of dispute resolution. It is both global and local, diverse and singular.
As Nash says: “London remains a natural gathering point for the global disputes community because it is where people from different seats, sectors, and legal traditions come to compare experiences. LIDW gives that conversation structure. The LCIA’s participation this year reflects the breadth of the institution, with members of the board, court, and secretariat speaking across more than two dozen sessions. These are people who understand the cases, the users, the tribunals, and the pressures on the system.”
This is a persuasive form of institutional modernisation: not change for its own sake, but careful renewal informed by users and implemented by people who understand how arbitration works in practice, aligned to professional renewal and a mature sense of where it sits in the world at large.
Nash and Scherer are taking a nuanced approach in charting a new course for a venerable institution. London is better for it, and for them.
The Global Legal Post is holding a roundtable event on international arbitration, in partnership with Ashurst, as part of LIDW26 at Ashurst’s London office on Wednesday, 3 June, from 2.00 to 3.30 pm. Click here for more details about the session and speaker lineup.
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