Ellex supports Tallinn Arbitration Day

Last week, arbitration practitioners and experts gathered in Tallinn for the second Tallinn Arbitration Day, an international conference focused on current developments and discussions in arbitration. Ellex supported the conference as a Gold Sponsor.

The event is organised by the Estonian Arbitration Association, co-founded by Maria Teder, Counsel at Ellex Estonia, with Linda Helen Herman joining Maria in the organising efforts alongside colleagues from various Estonian law firms. Ellex arbitration practice group was further represented by Anton Sigal, Toomas Vaher, Marika Kütt, Neve Uudelt, Kristi Traagel, Christina Kiik, Tadas Varapnickas, and Simona Budreikaitė at numerous events.

A kick-off event was hosted by the Estonian Bar Association and the Vienna International Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (VIAC), represented by Deputy Secretary General Anna Förstel-Cherng. Maria Teder, alongside Miklós Boronkay (Hungary), Ieva Rimavičienė (Lithuania), and Eveli Lume (Estonia/Germany), shared their insights on picking arbitrators in the region. Everyone stressed the need for disclosures pursuant to the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration, whose translation into Estonian is imminent.

Simona Budreikaitė, Associate Partner at Ellex Lithuania, joined the panel on sanctions and arbitration on the main stage alongside Jan Dunin-Wasowicz (Bennink Dunin-Wasowicz), Barbara Maucher (Noerr), Paschalis Paschalidis (Gaillard Banifatemi Shelbaya Disputes), and Peter Plachy (CMS). As Anton Sigal, Partner at Ellex Estonia, commented:

The practical experience of colleagues responsible for various ongoing international cases that are pivotal to the effect sanctions have on arbitration and the so-called ‘war stories’ are valuable information that you can’t really get anywhere else.

Additionally, the Baltics themselves are forerunners here, as 20% of the requests for preliminary rulings to the CJEU on sanctions originate from Lithuania these days.

This year’s Tallinn Arbitration Day also included a unique ArbVoices competition that offered anyone an opportunity to propose a 12-minute pitch. An international jury awarded Emna Samti first place for her speech on self-executing awards through smart contracts. AI-related topics were clearly prevalent among the ArbVoices finalists.

The conversations continued the following morning with ArbCEE Match: Connect Better, an interactive networking side event supported by Ellex. Kristi Traagel, Senior Associate at Ellex Estonia, joined Paschalis Paschalidis, Svenja Wachtel and Tomáš Richter as discussion leaders, guiding small-group conversations aimed at creating new connections between arbitration practitioners.

Tallinn Arbitration Day gave Ellex Estonia an opportunity to host a cosy reception led by Toomas Vaher, Kristi Traagel, Christina Kiik, Gerda Liik, Hendrik Viimsalu and Tadas Varapnickas to meet new contacts and reinforce old ones.

Ellex hereby joins in the praise for a successful Tallinn Arbitration Day and thanks the organisers, speakers and everyone who joined us in Tallinn.