{"id":389454,"date":"2026-07-05T10:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T04:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=389454"},"modified":"2026-07-04T18:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T13:14:14","slug":"predictability-drives-arbitration-decisions-iac-eurasia-arbitration-week-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2026\/07\/05\/predictability-drives-arbitration-decisions-iac-eurasia-arbitration-week-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Predictability, commercial strategy and enforceability drive arbitration decisions: Key takeaways from in-house counsel at IAC Eurasia Arbitration Week 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The panel discussion on Day 2 of the International Arbitration Centre (IAC) Eurasia Arbitration Week 2026, titled “Arbitration from the Inside: What In-house Counsel Really Want”<\/span>, shifted the focus from arbitral institutions and procedural rules to the expectations of those who ultimately instruct lawyers, manage commercial disputes, and decide whether disputes should proceed to arbitration at all.<\/p>\n

Moderated by Jeff Erlich<\/span>, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan, the session brought together both corporate legal leaders and external practitioners to discuss how arbitration can better serve modern businesses.<\/p>\n

The panel featured Artem Timoshenko<\/span>, Managing Partner, Unicase; Elyar Aliyev<\/span>, Vice President Legal (Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye), bp; Samir Abdullayev<\/span>, Legal Director, Western & Central Asia, ALSTOM; Zmarak Khan<\/span>, Deputy Chief Counsel, Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) and Ravil Kassilgov<\/span>, Managing Partner, KP Disputes.<\/p>\n

Throughout the discussion, the speakers repeatedly emphasised that businesses do not measure success by legal victories alone. Instead, they expect arbitration to support commercial objectives, preserve relationships, manage risk, provide predictable outcomes and ultimately help companies make informed business decisions.<\/p>\n

In-house counsel operates at the intersection of law, finance, business and reputation<\/p>\n

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Opening the discussion, moderator Jeff Erlich asked a simple but fundamental question:<\/p>\n

“What do in-house counsel really want?”<\/p>\n

Responding first, Samir Abdullayev<\/span> explained that corporate legal departments function very differently from external law firms.<\/p>\n

According to him, in-house lawyers work simultaneously across legal, commercial, financial and reputational dimensions. Unlike external counsel, they cannot evaluate disputes purely from a legal perspective because senior management expects them to explain not merely whether the company has a strong legal case but also what the dispute means commercially.<\/p>\n

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He observed:<\/p>\n

“In-house counsels operate at the intersection of law, finance, business, and reputation.”<\/p>\n

Consequently, corporate lawyers must constantly balance legal advice with business realities while operating under significant pressure from internal stakeholders and business leadership.<\/p>\n

Predictability matters more than anything else<\/p>\n

According to Abdullayev, the single most important expectation of in-house counsel is predictability, beginning from the very first day a dispute arises.<\/p>\n

He identified three principal dimensions of predictability.<\/p>\n

The first is cost predictability, where companies require visibility regarding legal fees, tribunal costs, institutional expenses, hearing costs and eventual enforcement costs before deciding how to proceed.<\/p>\n

The second is timeline predictability, allowing businesses to understand procedural milestones and estimate when a final award may realistically be expected.<\/p>\n

The third is risk predictability, which includes evaluating the likelihood of success, financial exposure and prospects for settlement.<\/p>\n

He stressed that without clarity on these issues, businesses cannot formulate an appropriate dispute strategy. According to Abdullayev, predictability ultimately allows arbitration to function as a commercial management tool rather than becoming another source of uncertainty.<\/p>\n

He remarked:<\/p>\n

“Predictability helps to maintain arbitration as a business tool rather than a source of uncontrolled disruption.”<\/p>\n

When asked whether external lawyers generally meet these expectations, Abdullayev estimated that they succeed roughly seven or eight out of ten times.<\/p>\n

Businesses ask only three questions when disputes arise<\/p>\n

Offering the perspective of one of the world’s largest energy companies, Elyar Aliyev<\/span> explained that in-house lawyers today are fully integrated into commercial decision-making.<\/p>\n

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He noted that whenever disputes begin emerging, business leaders invariably ask their legal departments three fundamental questions:<\/p>\n