Carbonneau on Arbitration

Book excerpt: A companion to Carbonneau on International Arbitration: Collected Essays, the essays in this volume represent the majority of the author's scholarly writings on the topic of U.S. arbitration law. They reflect his three decades of experience as a law professor and as the Editor-in-Chief of the World Arbitration & Mediation Report (renamed Review) and the Journal of American Arbitration. Each one tackles an aspect of the debate about the role of arbitral adjudication in contemporary American society and provides an assessment of the evolution and content of the U.S. law of arbitration. In particular, Carbonneau on Arbitration: Collected Essays examines the work of the U.S. Supreme Court in arbitration and provides a critical, but balanced, assessment of that decisional law. The chapters of this volume represent the majority of the author's scholarly writings on international commercial arbitration over thirty years. The chapters address various major issues and themes of transborder arbitration law, including (1) the importance of courts in developing and maintaining a legal culture that is hospitable to arbitration, (2) arbitration as a complete legal system, (3) the increasing use of arbitration to resolve political or mixed political and commercial disputes, and (4) the “judicialization” of arbitration. Some of the chapters are of a recent vintage, while others were written a decade or two ago. Whatever their date of production, these essays are of continuing interest to practitioners in and scholars of the field.