About the Tribunal Secretary Platform
The Tribunal Secretary Platform is a service to help arbitrators who wish to appoint a tribunal secretary identify qualified individuals who can take on tribunal secretary appointments from arbitrators outside their own organization. The Tribunal Secretary Platform has three main goals:
To make it easier for arbitrators to find a tribunal secretary with the right skills and knowledge for a specific case (for example, in terms of language, governing law, industry experience, cultural insights).
To create more visibility and options for tribunal secretaries to work with arbitrators around the globe.
To increase the diversity of the tribunal secretary pool.
The requirements that tribunal secretaries must meet to be listed on the Tribunal Secretary Platform have been set with these goals in mind.
Tribunal Secretary Requirements
To be included on the Tribunal Secretary Platform, tribunal secretaries must meet the following threshold requirements:
At least two years’ legal practice experience focused on dispute resolution in a law firm, government, institution, or other organization (to be verified by reference form); and
Documented experience in arbitration, such as working on an arbitration case, taking an arbitration course at a university or an arbitral institution, doing a tribunal secretary training course, or writing a paper on an arbitration topic. Tribunal secretaries who meet the requirements for the Tribunal Secretary Experience Distinction or Arbitration Experience Distinction do not need any further documentation.
In addition, all tribunal secretaries must be able to take on tribunal secretary appointments from arbitrators outside of their organization and must ensure an appropriate degree of data security.
Tribunal Secretary Distinction Requirements
The Tribunal Secretary Platform offers tribunal secretaries the opportunity to qualify for one or both of the following distinctions, which will be indicated by a “badge” on their profile:
Tribunal secretaries with a minimum of six months’ experience working as a tribunal secretary qualify for the Tribunal Secretary Experience Distinction.
Tribunal secretaries with a minimum of two years’ legal practice experience focused specifically on arbitration in a law firm, government, institution, or other organization qualify for the Arbitration Experience Distinction.
Application Process
To be considered for inclusion on the Tribunal Secretary Platform, tribunal secretaries must submit an application form along with the following materials:
Current CV (please note that this CV will be uploaded onto the Tribunal Secretary Platform and should therefore include certain information that will be meaningful to arbitrators; see below “Tribunal Secretary Profile”).
Reference Form(s): A reference from a current and/or former supervisor is required to verify the applicant’s practice experience. If applicable, a reference from an arbitrator is required to verify the applicant’s Tribunal Secretary Experience. All references must be provided using the Reference Form. An applicant may submit multiple references to satisfy a single requirement (e.g. if the applicant has one year of experience with a former employer and one year of experience with a current employer). Tribunal secretaries who are currently employed must submit a reference from a current supervisor confirming that they are allowed to take on tribunal secretary appointments from arbitrators outside of their organization.
Evidence of the applicant’s experience in arbitration (not required for applicants who meet the requirements for the Tribunal Secretary Experience Distinction or Arbitration Experience Distinction). Examples include a reference from a current or former supervisor confirming work on an arbitration case, a certificate for a tribunal secretary training course or an arbitration course at a university or an arbitral institution, or a paper on an arbitration topic.
The Tribunal Secretary Platform will approve applications in its sole discretion and has the right to deny an application or remove a tribunal secretary even if the requirements are met. Tribunal secretaries will be informed of the outcome of their application, but the Tribunal Secretary Platform is not in a position to provide additional feedback to applicants.
Tribunal Secretary Profile
When a tribunal secretary is accepted onto the Tribunal Secretary Platform, they should immediately fill in their profile. Tribunal secretaries should provide as much meaningful information as possible to enable an arbitrator to understand their experience and suitability for a specific case. In addition to filling in the provided fields for specific experience, tribunal secretaries should strive to include more information in the overview section and/or their CV. For example, tribunal secretaries should consider including the following information: (1) a list of representative cases; (2) the number of tribunal secretary appointments; (3) the level of proficiency in different languages; (4) the seats of arbitration, applicable substantive laws, areas of law and industries they have experience with; (5) the fee models they are open to using (see the note on compensating tribunal secretaries in the Key Templates section); (6) any tribunal secretary trainings that they have completed; (7) a list of publications; and (8) a list of references (with permission of the referees).
If and when a tribunal secretary is able to demonstrate Arbitration Experience or Tribunal Secretary Experience (as described above) that was not previously indicated on their profile, they may submit a request to update their profile, together with a Reference Form completed by a reference attesting to the relevant experience.
For other updates to their profile, the tribunal secretary may log into the Jus Connect Platform and make changes themselves. Tribunal secretaries should ensure that they keep their profile up to date and must indicate immediately if and when they are no longer able to accept external appointments. They may also temporarily suspend their profile, for example if they are at capacity and not accepting secretary appointments for some period.
The Tribunal Secretary Platform may remove tribunal secretaries from the Platform at its discretion.
How to Collaborate
Once an arbitrator is interested in collaborating with a tribunal secretary on a specific case, they are encouraged to contact the tribunal secretary directly by e-mail and ask for a conflicts check, references of other arbitrators or senior lawyers the tribunal secretary has worked with, and/or an interview. Please be mindful of the fact that arbitrators may need to contact several tribunal secretary candidates in parallel to ensure a speedy appointment.
A tribunal secretary contacted for a potential mandate is responsible for verifying the reputation and background of the arbitrator(s). Given how disruptive a change of the tribunal secretary mid-case is, they should also inform the arbitral tribunal if they anticipate not being able to see the case through to the end.
For convenience, the arbitrators, parties and tribunal secretaries may use key templates free of charge to assist them with discussing and agreeing on the terms of the tribunal secretary’s appointment and scope of the role.