I get the feeling that because there are relatively few experienced arbitrators here, things follow an informal course. In one instance, we were approached by a potential plaintiff who wanted to bring a case against one of our existing clients. Derek Luxford is clear in his mind about the other benefits that settling disputes in Australia brings, either in court or in arbitration. Costs are much lower here compared with London, Hong Kong and Singapore. Australian maritime law has a grounding in English maritime law, which is familiar to contracting parties worldwide.
Cases also take longer to come to a hearing elsewhere.
Sydney is much quicker. Richard Hein says that, in many cases, it makes sense to go with Australian representation on an Australian stage. You're often using the lawyers who put the deal together in the first place. They know the local conditions. However, he does tread cautiously where the outcome of a case can have far-reaching consequences.