Practice review: one arbitration clause that decided the cost of a dispute
The most overlooked part of a cross-border contract is often the dispute-resolution clause. Reviewing the logic of governing law and seat.
A recurring lesson: a cross-border contract signs smoothly, until a dispute reveals that the governing law, forum, and language make enforcement impractically expensive.
The dispute-resolution clause decides where, under what rules, and in what language a dispute is resolved — and whether the award can be recognized and enforced where the other side holds assets.
The review's point is to treat enforceability as the primary concern — choosing an arbitration mechanism recognized and enforceable in the counterparty's asset jurisdiction is usually more practical than 'a court convenient for you'.
The lesson: the dispute-resolution clause isn't a boilerplate tail to the contract but a core term setting the cost of risk, and deserves attention early in negotiation.