The International Arbitration & Mediation Centre, Hyderabad (IAMC) organised a first-of-its kind round table discussion with all the in-house and general counsels of Hyderabad on July 8th, 2022.
The theme of the discussion was Institutional Arbitration and Mediation: Insights from stakeholders led by panelists, Senior Advocate for the High Court of Telangana Mr. Ramakanth Reddy, Dr. Vivek Mittal, Global General Counsel, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Mr. Shujath Bin Ali, Global General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Re Sustainability Limited. The Round table discussion saw the attendance of legal heads from IFFCO UAE, Tata Projects, Aurobindo Pharma, Hetero Labs, among others.
Senior Advocate Mr. Ramakanth Reddy started the discussion by shedding light on the lack of awareness surrounding mediation in India alongside the various benefits offered by this means of dispute resolution. Emphasising the importance of drafting a multi-tiered clause, Mr. Reddy made note of the fact that Delhi boasts a success rate of 86.5% within mediation cases. To this end, Mr. Reddy affirms that “meditation is going to be a specialised field” at power with litigation.
Dr. Vivek Mittal furthered the discussion by reaffirming Mr. Reddy’s thoughts on how “mediation professionals will have a similar career as lawyers.” Emphasising the need for a mindset change concerning clause drafting, Dr. Mittal explains that the concept of mediation came as a surprise to companies roughly ten years ago but also mentions that there has been a positive change in affairs since.
Mr. Shujath Bin Ali concluded the panel discussion by encouraging the attendees to “push the use of clauses from Indian Institutions” while also bringing to light the various intricacies surrounding the enforcement of arbitration awards and the timeline of dispute resolution. Finally, Mr. Shujath suggested the various ways in which said intricacies could be resolved. For instance, the speaker suggested that comments or remarks from the Supreme Court would help in the timely enforcement of arbitral awards.
Post the conclusion of the panel discussion, a fruitful round table discussion with all the delegates highlighted the need for “a whole mindset shift” to the extent that terms and conditions themselves in allowing effective dispute resolution. During this, delegates spoke on the importance of effectively “marrying” business with legal teams to ensure smooth functioning of dispute resolution.
The Registrar, Mr. Tariq Khan thanked each and every one for being a part of the discussion and invited all the stakeholders to work together with IAMC in achieving its vision and mission.