Leading French arbitrator Serge Lazareff has traded one Parisian boutique for another - joining a practice set up earlier this year by former Hammonds-Hausmann partner Benoit Le Bars .     

The Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce has promoted a former legal counsel to deputy secretary general, as Annette Magnusson prepares to take the helm from Ulf Franke in a few weeks’ time.

Venezuela has launched an ICC arbitration against US oil company ConocoPhillips in an attempt to block its bid to buy half of oil company PDVSA's stake in a Texas refinery.

Emirati arbitration specialist Essam Al-Tamimi is to head a newly launched ICC initiative focused on promoting arbitration in the United Arab Emirates.

A federal court in St Petersburg has refused to set aside an SCC costs award against a Finnish hotel group, in a case that shows Russian courts’ growing resistance to public policy arguments.

Chadbourne & Parke has hired a handful of international arbitration lawyers from Howrey in London, including the head of its practice, Melanie Willems.

Seoul will host the next IBA arbitration day, in March 2011 – giving South Korea a chance to prove itself as a “major player in the international arbitration community and a market leader in Asia”, according to Kevin Kim of Bae Kim & Lee.

Spain has reappointed three arbitrators to the panel at ICSID, while Uganda and Panama have added new names.

Global Arbitration Review ’s annual rankings of the top thirty international arbitration practices are ready – who are the big winners?