At a lively and informative event on Friday, 7 April, Des Voeux Chambers and Conyers Dill Pearman hosted their first joint Dispute Resolution seminar featuring presentations by Jeffrey Elkinson, Director in the Litigation & Insolvency department in the Bermuda office of Conyers and a Door Tenant from DVC, as well as William Wong SC from DVC, Chairman of the Special Committee on Arbitration of the Hong Kong Bar Association. The event entitled “Thou Shall Not Interfere” began following brief introductory remarks by Nigel Meeson QC, Head of Asia Disputes & Restructuring Group at Conyers and Michael Lok from DVC.
The two speakers examined the evolving role of the courts in light of the growing interest in arbitration, including the ways in which the courts exercise their powers and discretion to “interfere” with the arbitral process, with reference to case law from the local courts as well as other common law jurisdictions including England and Bermuda.
The speakers also considered the relevance of the courts’ power to grant urgent relief (on an ex parte basis), as compared to provisions enabling the formation of an emergency arbitral tribunal under existing arbitration rules. The presentation was complemented by contributions from Patrick Fung SC, Liza Jane Cruden, and Martin Kok, of DVC, who shared their anecdotal experiences dealing with urgent injunction applications pending or during arbitral proceedings.
