Hannes Snellman Takes the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge

In line with Hannes Snellman’s strong commitment to diversity, Hannes Snellman has taken the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge and committed itself to the following.

“As a law firm involved in the practice of international arbitration, we are committed to improving the profile and representation of women in arbitration. In particular, we consider that women should be appointed as arbitrators on an equal opportunity basis. To achieve this, we will take the steps reasonably available to us – and we will encourage other participants in the arbitral process to do likewise – to ensure that, wherever possible:

• committees, governing bodies and conference panels in the field of arbitration include a fair representation of women;
• lists of potential arbitrators or tribunal chairs provided to or considered by parties, counsel, in-house counsel or otherwise include a fair representation of female candidates;
• states, arbitral institutions and national committees include a fair representation of female candidates on rosters and lists of potential arbitrator appointees, where maintained by them;
• where they have the power to do so, counsel, arbitrators, representatives of corporates, states and arbitral institutions appoint a fair representation of female arbitrators;
• gender statistics for appointments (split by party and other appointment) are collated and made publicly available; and
• senior and experienced arbitration practitioners support, mentor/sponsor and encourage women to pursue arbitrator appointments and otherwise enhance their profiles and practice.”

We are also glad to report that Mika Savola, Head of Hannes Snellman’s Dispute Resolution Group in Helsinki, has in his role as Chairman of the Board of the Finnish Arbitration Institute (FAI), led FAI to have the highest numbers of female arbitrator appointments of all arbitral institutions included in a recent study conducted for the Pledge (http://globalarbitrationreview.com/news/article/35330/baseline-gender-diversity-tribunals-end-2015/).