LL.M. AWArDS
The excellence of academics and practitioners in this field is combined with the constant desire of the French legislator and courts to ensure the effectiveness of French international arbitration law in the interests of the parties.
In keeping with its tradition of excellence in international arbitration, as evidenced by the training offered for decades to French-speaking students, Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University now offers a world class advanced University degree (DU) in the field, taught entirely in English. This training is provided by the best specialists in international arbitration, whether academics or practitioners (lawyers, counsels, arbitrators, quantum experts, managers of third-party funders, artificial intelligence researchers, etc.), based in Paris or in other important arbitration venues (London, Dubaï, Singapore, etc.). Delivered in the heart of Paris, the LL.M. AWArDS bears its name well (Assas World Arbitration and Disputes Settlement).
In most fields of international business relationships, being able to comprehend and advise on complex issues related to both international arbitration and international litigation is not a must anymore. It is becoming more and more necessary: to be able to choose between a choice-of-court agreement and an arbitration clause in a particular business context; to determine how to engineer an investment to let the investor have the possibility to secure access to investment arbitration; to achieve a complete command of the arbitral process from A to Z, including the intricacies of the enforcement of an award against a foreign State.
The program will cover both international commercial arbitration and investment arbitration. It will combine the French perspective with a comparative law approach. The LL.M. will also deepen other core aspects of dispute resolution mechanisms: mediation, negotiation, settlement agreements, international business litigation, etc.
Thus, the main objectives of the LL.M. AWArDS can be summarized for the benefit of its future students from all over the world:
- To master the fundamental elements of both international commercial arbitration and investment arbitration, and to comprehend core aspects of international litigation
- To understand the peculiarities of the various fields of specialization within international arbitration, investment arbitration and international litigation
- To understand the place of each mechanism in the context of international dispute settlement
- To comprehend the relationship between arbitral proceedings and state or regional legal systems and courts
- To broaden the understanding of international arbitration from a comparative perspective, including with other dispute settlement mechanisms
- To become more familiar with the substantive and international aspects of certain legal regimes (international contract law, protection of foreign investments, etc.)
- To acquire the indispensable knowledge from international arbitration and litigation practitioners (drafting clauses, briefs, pleadings, evidence, examinations and cross-examinations, establishing the quantum of damages, etc.)
- To understand the functioning and distinctive features of the main arbitration centres and their rules.
Involving academics and practitioners specialised in international arbitration, investment arbitration and international litigation but also in the various specialized fields of dispute before arbitral tribunals, the LL.M. program is based on the richness of Paris as one of the most prominent international arbitration venues, internationally recognized as such. Its aim is to train students in the demanding realities of international arbitration law and practice, thanks to the most renowned academics and practitioners.
The curriculum has been carefully crafted to achieve the proper balance between an academic approach to let students assert their own critical thinking capacities in the field of international and investment arbitration and litigation, and a more empirical and practical approach to confront prospective arbitration practitioners with the complex realities of this multifaceted field of practice. Fundamental courses taught throughout the academic year and semestrial optional courses dedicated to furthering certain aspects of international and investment arbitration and litigation coexist with very focused courses build on a field-based (energy, mining, financial, M&A, etc.) or an issue-based approach (evidence, complex arbitration proceedings, TPF, etc.).
Therefore, the LL.M. AWArDS has been crafted to let academics and practitioners share their insights and their thinking on their respective fields of expertise.
To achieve a complete training also requires to be directly put in close contact with the level of requirements expected from young arbitration practitioners. Very focused Worshops have therefore been designed to let students be guided on the pass of cross-examinations, of oral advocacy or to be convinced of the need to properly understand the damage-assessment methodologies.
