Soumya Yadav, Author at SCC Times

soft law international arbitration UNCITRAL Model Law

Soft law, UNCITRAL Model Law and arbitration-friendly courts take centre stage at IAC Eurasia Arbitration Week 2026

How do soft law, modern arbitration legislation and supportive courts influence cross-border dispute resolution? A Day 3 panel at IAC Eurasia Arbitration Week 2026 examined the evolving legal and institutional framework shaping international arbitration across Eurasia.

in-house counsel arbitration expectations IAC EAW26

Eurasia Arbitration Week Events & Collaborations International

Predictability, commercial strategy and enforceability drive arbitration decisions: Key takeaways from in-house counsel at IAC Eurasia Arbitration Week 2026

Corporate counsel and arbitration practitioners at IAC Eurasia Arbitration Week 2026 examined what businesses truly expect from arbitration, stressing predictability, commercial awareness, enforceability, effective contract drafting, mediation and stronger collaboration between in-house and external counsel.

Queen Mary International Arbitration Survey IAC

Eurasia Arbitration Week Events & Collaborations International

‘Asia is becoming a superpower of disputes’: Prof. Loukas Mistelis highlights global arbitration trends at IAC Eurasia Arbitration Week 2026

Prof. Loukas Mistelis traced the evolution of the Queen Mary International Arbitration Survey over the past two decades, highlighting arbitration’s continued dominance in cross-border disputes, Asia’s growing influence, user expectations, and the transformative role of artificial intelligence.

Eurasia Arbitration Week Events & Collaborations International

Cross-border M&A disputes require dispute architecture, not just arbitration: Experts discuss at IAC Eurasia Arbitration Week 2026

From representations and warranties disputes to fraud, earn-outs, mediation and investment arbitration, panellists at the International Arbitration Centre’s Eurasia Arbitration Week 2026 discussed why cross-border M&A disputes arise and how businesses can better structure transactions to prevent and resolve them.

Case Briefs High Courts

Inquiry Into Forged Judicial Orders Must Precede Consideration of Recall Application: Bombay HC Directs Registrar General to Lodge Complaint

The Court held that the issue of how and at whose instance the forged judicial orders came into existence must first be investigated, and directed the Registrar General to lodge a police and cyber cell complaint, deferring consideration of the recall application until completion of the inquiry.

AI pilots to firm-wide capability LegalTechTalk 2026

Events & Collaborations International LegalTechTalk

‘Don’t think of it as a technology problem’: LegalTechTalk 2026 closing panel explores how law firms can move from AI pilots to firm-wide capability

Law firm leaders, innovation executives and legal technology experts at LegalTechTalk 2026 discussed leadership, culture, talent development, data strategy and the future of the billable hour, concluding that the biggest barriers to AI transformation are no longer technological and that lasting success will depend on firms’ ability to embrace experimentation, develop future-ready lawyers and rethink traditional models of legal practice.

relieving letter in airline service bond

Case Briefs High Courts

Relieving letter is consequential upon acceptance of resignation; employer justified in withholding it where resignation is in breach of service bond: Bombay HC

Bombay High Court, in a petition concerning enforcement of a service bond and issuance of a relieving letter to an aircraft technician trained under an airline arrangement, held that the Industrial Court’s interim order was unsustainable, emphasising that resignation in breach of the bond cannot compel the employer to issue such documents.

Events & Collaborations International LegalTechTalk

‘Everybody will use AI, how do you remain relevant?’: LegalTechTalk 2026 panel explores legal design, legal engineering and the future of legal services

Legal engineers building products, lawyers experimenting with AI-powered tools, and firms rethinking billable hours and service delivery all featured in the LegalTechTalk 2026 discussion, which agreed that technology alone will not define the future of legal services, with competitive advantage instead coming from legal design, client-centric innovation and the ability to create value beyond traditional legal work.

Lawyers of the future AI LegalTechTalk 2026

Events & Collaborations LegalTechTalk

How to build and empower lawyers of the future: Legal leaders discuss AI, leadership, courage and the future of legal practice at LegalTechTalk 2026

The session “How to Build and Empower Lawyers of the Future” at LegalTechTalk 2026 highlighted that while artificial intelligence is transforming legal research, drafting and routine legal work, industry leaders stressed that judgment, critical thinking, courage and human relationships will remain central to the future of legal practice.

building law firm ground up LegalTechTalk 2026

Events & Collaborations International LegalTechTalk

‘Clients do not buy code, they buy courage’: Legal leaders at LegalTechTalk 2026 discuss how law firms are built from the ground up

From whether traditional partnerships remain fit for purpose, to AI-generated client instructions creating new liability risks and junior lawyers needing to reach judgment faster, the LegalTechTalk panel agreed that the firms which survive the next decade will be those that treat data as their most valuable asset and courage as their core product.

Events & Collaborations International LegalTechTalk

‘The breakthrough is not AI giving information, but AI giving insights’: Legal leaders discuss how judgment can be embedded into technology at LegalTechTalk 2026

The legal industry is moving from information to intelligence, a shift examined in the session “From Information to Intelligence: How Law Firms Embed Legal Judgment in Technology” at LegalTechTalk 2026, where speakers highlighted AI’s role in scaling expertise while keeping human judgment at the centre of legal decision-making.

AI in-house legal function LegalTechTalk 2026

Events & Collaborations International LegalTechTalk

‘AI is eliminating administrative legal work, not lawyers’: Experts discuss AI’s role in rewiring the in-house legal function at LegalTechTalk 2026

The session “The New Legal Stack: How AI Is Rewiring the In-House Legal Function” at LegalTechTalk 2026 highlighted that while AI is transforming research, workflows, compliance, and contract management, leaders from Airbnb and Wordsmith stressed that human judgment remains essential for complex legal strategy, negotiation, and decision-making.

advocates welfare health insurance annual premium Jharkhand

Case Briefs High Courts

Jharkhand HC: State’s Undertaking on ₹6,000 Annual Premium for Advocates’ Health Insurance Binding; Non-Publication of Resolution in Official Gazette No Bar to Implementation

Jharkhand High Court, in a petition concerning welfare measures for practising advocates, observed that State resolutions and budgetary allocations for health insurance were already in place, and held that the reliefs prayed for stood substantially worked out.

Events & Collaborations ICA Conference

ICA 2026 | ‘Mediation Has Limited Growth Potential on the Commercial Side’: Experts Debate Future of Hybrid ADR in Indo-UK Commercial Dispute

A technical session at the ICA Conference on “Arbitrating Indo-UK Commercial Disputes” highlighted that while hybrid ADR frameworks are gaining traction, corporate users remain cautious about mediation’s role in high-value disputes, and arbitration, despite concerns of cost and complexity, continues to be the preferred mechanism for certainty and enforceability in Indo-UK commerce.

Events & Collaborations Institutional Events

Fundamental Rights Must Protect Citizens with Equal Ferocity in Both the Physical and Digital Worlds: CJI Surya Kant at Oxford Union on AI, Access to Justice and Constitutional Governance

Delivering an address at the Oxford Union, Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant said technology has the power to democratise justice but must remain anchored to constitutional values and human judgment, emphasising that innovation should complement rather than replace the human heart of justice.

mediation arbitration India UK commercial disputes

Events & Collaborations Institutional Events

As International Arbitration Mirrors Complexities It Was Designed to Escape, Mediation Emerges as the Frontier of Commercial Agility: CJI Surya Kant at UK Supreme Court

At the UK Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant urged modern legal systems to shift from “forum convenience” to “process convenience,” positioning mediation as the next frontier of commercial justice while reaffirming the complementary role of courts and arbitration.

AI arbitrator New York Convention enforcement

Events & Collaborations ICA Conference

‘Those AI Solutions Must Have Their Foundations in Our Own Laws’: Sir Geoffrey Vos on AI, Digital Sovereignty and the Future of Arbitration at ICA’s 4th Indo-UK Conference

If the AI systems driving arbitral decisions are trained on materials from other jurisdictions, the awards they generate may be unenforceable or worse, systematically biased. Sir Geoffrey Vos used his keynote at the ICA’s 4th Indo-UK Commercial Disputes Conference to draw a line between AI in arbitration, where party consent makes adoption feasible, and AI in courts, where constitutional legitimacy makes it impossible.

India arbitration hub global commercial disputes

Events & Collaborations ICA Conference

‘In India, Arbitration Is an Emotion, Not Just Business’: Dr. N. G. Khaitan Highlights India’s Rise as a Global Arbitration Hub at ICA’s 4th Indo-UK Conference

India’s growing trade ties, pro-arbitration judiciary, and legal reforms are opening new avenues for cross-border dispute resolution, with Dr. N. G. Khaitan at the ICA’s Indo-UK conference in London urging global businesses to see India not just as a commercial hub but as an emerging centre for arbitration.

Events & Collaborations London International Disputes Week

‘It Is a Great Tool, Not a Master’: Legal Leaders Debate AI’s Growing Influence on the Legal Profession

Artificial intelligence is making lawyers faster, research more accessible and legal services more efficient. But as AI systems become increasingly sophisticated, legal practitioners are confronting a more difficult question: how can the profession embrace technological transformation without surrendering the human judgment, ethics and accountability that lie at the heart of legal practice?

mediation vs arbitration commercial disputes

Events & Collaborations London International Disputes Week

LIDW26 | From the Mahabharata to the Mediation Act, 2023: India and England Compare Notes on Why Mediation Is Winning

India’s mediation tradition predates its legislation by millennia. England’s mediation culture was built by judicial pressure and adverse costs. At LIDW 2026, practitioners from both jurisdictions found more agreement than disagreement and a shared frustration with what arbitration has become.