It’s Women’s History Month, so there’s no better time to evaluate the state of equal representation for women (or lack thereof) when it comes to international arbitration. Despite much discussion about ‘equal opportunity’, arbitral tribunals are still dominated by men. Perhaps that’s why in 2015, members of the arbitration community formed The Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge, which seeks to achieve full parity between women and men on arbitral tribunals across the world.
An LFJ Conversation with Michael Kelley, Partner, Parker Poe
It’s Women’s History Month, so there’s no better time to evaluate the state of equal representation for women (or lack thereof) when it comes to international arbitration. Despite much discussion about ‘equal opportunity’, arbitral tribunals are still dominated by men. Perhaps that’s why in 2015, members of the arbitration community formed The Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge, which seeks to achieve full parity between women and men on arbitral tribunals across the world.
As reported in Vannin Capital’s special Women in Focus series, the Pledge was created by Jackie van Haersolte-van Hof, Director General at the London Court of International Arbitration, and Sylvia Noury, London Head of International Arbitration at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
van Haersolte-van Hof was in attendance at an ICC event in Miami when she first formulated the notion of a ‘pledge’ to increase diversity on arbitral tribunals. She claims inspiration came from large corporations in the US who began to demand greater diversity of the law firms they engaged with. She admits that her initial idea was centered around a goal of broader diversity, but that in order to make that bold leap a first step was needed; and that first step was in the direction of gender diversity.
It was Noury who eventually took her idea and ran with it. Throughout 2015, she arranged a series of dinners where the Pledge was formalized and eventually finalized. In May of 2016 it was ultimately launched, and included 300 signatories. That number has ballooned to 3,000 now, as the Pledge has evolved from a back-of-the-napkin response to gender uniformity into a full-scale global movement for gender diversity.
A longstanding challenge of diversity has been a lack of senior leadership from women in the legal field. This is primarily due to the fact that women have not been full participants for very long, hence they could not ‘climb the ladder’ in the same way their male counterparts could. However, that trend is slowly shifting. These days there is a greater influx of women into Legal Services, and both van Haersolte-van Hof and Noury are optimistic that the influx will translate into higher rates of women in senior leadership positions over time.
When looking at the arbitral institutions who singed the Pledge, the average number of female arbitrators appointed in 2017 was 20%, that’s up from 10% just three years prior. Some specific institutions – like the SCC – are up to 40% appointed females.
in addition to fostering a culture of inclusivity, gender diversity has the added benefit of positively-impacting qualitative decision-making. Diverse perspectives have been proven to enhance strategic planning and management. As Noury puts it: “They say that three heads are better than one, but if all are thinking in the same way then that benefit is lost. Diversity brings a different perspective, which is important to avoid “group think” and keep everyone honest. This matters as much in arbitration as it does in the real world.”
With the push for gender inclusivity in international arbitration, the global Legal Services community is making a bold statement. van Haersolte-van Hof and Noury are leading the way with the Pledge, which may yet prove to be only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the broader goal of diversity across the board.
