Professor Thomas Stipanowich Presents Remarks on Singapore Convention for International Bar Association

Professor Thomas J. Stipanowich and Straus Institute alumna Ximena Bustamante presented remarks at the International Bar Association's Virtually Together Conference on November 5, 2020. The discussion, "Singapore Convention on Mediation – One Year On," brought together members of the ADR community from around the world.

Ms. Bustamante, who has spearheaded the development of mediation in Ecuador, was a highly visible participant in the promulgation of the Singapore Convention. She and Professor Stipanowich were speakers at the original convening connected to the "opening" of the Singapore Convention for signing by representatives of nations around the world.

Professor Stipanowich and Ms. Bustamante's participation was featured in the article, "IBAVT: Unifying mediation under the Singapore Convention," on the International Comparative Legal Guide's online platform, ICLG.com. 

From "IBAVT: Unifying mediation under the Singapore Convention"

"The floor was then given to Thomas Stipanowich, professor of law at Pepperdine University, California, who gave an academic research perspective, reflecting on the impact of the New York Convention on international commercial arbitration, and the "formal framework fleshed out by courts, administrative procedures, soft law and practitioners" that it has established. He added that in a similar way the SCM "ideally will become a platform for recognised international standards".

He expanded upon Bustamante's observations about the range of generally applicable standards of mediator conduct, saying "most mediators tell you that they bring to bear an approach, strategy and tactics appropriate to the situation", but referenced research by the International Academy of Mediators which found widely divergent default strategies across different areas and jurisdictions, in terms of procedures, use of caucuses and level of directiveness."

The complete article may be found here