On November 3, 2022, the Miami office of Reed Smith LLP hosted the roundtable “Dispute Resolution at the Forefront: New Tech, Litigation, and Arbitration Across Worlds”. The event was co-organized by the College of Law at Florida International University and the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center (SVAMC). The panelists were Professor Crenguta Leaua, Arbitrator, Director of the Swiss Institute for Alternative Thinking, and head of the SVAMC Taskforce on Blockchain, Smart Contracts and Dispute Resolution, Dan Jasnow from ArentFox Schiff, Patricia Shiguemi Kobayashi, Director of the Center for Arbitration and Mediation of the Cahmber of Commerce Brazil-Canada, and Andrew W. Balthazor, Blockchain, Digital Asset litigator and Adjunct Professor at FIU Law. Professor Manuel A. Gómez from FIU Law and Ucheora Omwuamaegbu from ArentFox Schiff co-moderated the discussion. Both co-moderators are also members of the SVAMC Taskforce on Blockchain, Smart Contracts and Dispute Resolution, and Professor Gómez is the lead of the Latin American and Caribbean SVAMC Group. Francisco A. Rodriguez, partner at Reed Smith LLP gave opening remarks.
The discussion focused on the impact of new technological developments — from cryptocurrencies to the metaverse — on domestic and international dispute resolution and was well received by the attendees who were engaged throughout the event. Jonathan W. Fitch, head of the Law Firm Working Group at SVAMC helped organized this roundtable, which was offered as one of the planned activities of his group.