Andrew Bowen QC acted for the claimant in an ICC International Commercial Arbitration in the last week of February.  Confidentiality of arbitration proceedings means that the parties and dispute cannot be discussed but he had the following comments about the conduct of the remote hearing:

"The hearing itself went remarkably smoothly.  The ICC's Guidance Note had highlighted how parties should organise virtual hearings, with a checklist for a protocol on virtual hearings and suggested clauses for cyber-protocols and procedural orders.  The London-based hearing venue arranged the Zoom hearing room with breakout rooms; witnesses appeared seamlessly and documents came on screen within seconds of being requested.  Using two screens meant that counsel could also follow the simultaneous transcription.

"Parties had agreed a 'chess clock' schedule and the arbitrator ensured that the parties stuck to their time estimates.  One lesson I learned was to anticipate time zones so that witnesses were not giving evidence in the early hours of the morning (their time).  The remote format is ideally suited to International Commercial Arbitration and may be here to stay."