Gravitas: Persuasion and Legitimacy
Article from: TDM 4 (2015), in Dealing with Diversity in International Arbitration
(or why calling on parties and their counsel to appoint more diverse arbitrators may be wishful thinking)
It is no secret for anyone regularly involved in international arbitration that older, white men, usually from Western Europe or North America, are nominated as arbitrators much more often than others. Diversity is clearly lacking. Women are usually considered to account for significantly fewer than 10% of arbitrators in international arbitrations, and very few women appear to account for a very significant percentage of that already small number. Most arbitrators are from Europe or North America, and most are "senior in age and experience." Outside of the US context, race does not seem to ...