Professor Jack Coe Quoted in "China Belt and Road Dispute Set to Fuel Mediation's Global Rise" -- Financial Times

Professor Jack J. Coe is quoted in the Financial Times article, "China Belt and Road Disputes Set to Fuel Mediation's Global Rise." The article examines legal disputes regarding China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that finances roads, ports, and other infrastructure projects in some of the world's poorest areas.

Excerpt via the Financial Times:

Styles and preferences for commercial dispute resolution often differ from culture to culture, says Jack Coe, international commercial arbitration masters programme faculty director at Pepperdine Law School near Los Angeles.

Many business cultures prefer arbitration, he says, whereby an arbiter decides on the virtue, or otherwise, of quarrelling parties' arguments. Some societies, meanwhile, may favour the use of potentially less combative methods of dispute resolution, such as mediation, in which parties involved reach voluntary agreement.

Mediation has "been around for decades" in the US and UK as an alternative to arbitration or litigating disputes in the courts, says Mr. Coe. The UK in particular, with its strong legal reputation and deep international ties with Commonwealth countries around the globe, has been a traditional hub for international commercial dispute resolution, including mediation.

Mr. Coe notes that in some legal cultures, "infrequent use of commercial mediation may reflect a preference for compulsory processes such as arbitration, that do not depend on voluntary participation to run their course." Though, as he adds, it is "tough to speak in generalities because cultures aren't monoliths and attitudes can vary from industry to industry."

The complete article may be found here