Pravo.ru investigated options available to Russian businesses as alternatives to Western arbitration. Partner Egor Chilikov shared his views on online arbitration, and what is the most important factor in choosing arbitration:

“Some complain about the lack of a ‘presence effect’ when questioning witnesses and experts online, but I don’t see this as a significant problem,” says Egor Chilikov, a partner at Petrol Chilikov. In his opinion, quality justice can be achieved online: “Just some things you have to get used to, but no more than that. That’s why many of the practices developed in the pandemic are likely to remain for a long time, the expert believes.

By and large, there’s a single most important factor in choosing arbitration – who your arbitrators will be. There is a good saying in the market: ‘Your arbitration is only as good as the arbitrators.’ A good arbitrator will ‘pull’ the proceedings to a good standard even under the not-so-great arbitration rules or practices at the arbitration venue.”

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