With less than two months to go, the Paris Arbitration Week (PAW) association is delighted to launch its next edition, which will revolve around three pillars: Paris, inclusiveness and innovation. The Olympic Games, which will be held in Paris this summer, will also inspire this year’s edition.

An opening cocktail party at an iconic venue preceded by an exceptional Kick-off

The opening of the 8th edition of the PAW will take place on 18 March and will be marked by an exceptional Kick-off. The opening speech will be delivered by a leading figure from the world of sport, Florence Gravellier, transcending for the first time the boundaries of international arbitration.

Florence Gravellier is a paralympic athlete and former wheelchair tennis player. A six-time France champion, she reached 1st and 2nd world rankings in her discipline, in doubles and singles respectively, and won a bronze medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Following her professional sporting career, Florence Gravellier held various positions within the Adecco group and at the Audencia business school. She is currently Vice-President of the French Tennis Federation and Senior Diversity & Inclusion Consultant atADDN Conseil.

Florence Gravellier will be welcomed by the Board as Keynote Speaker and will share her vision of diversity and inclusion in the world of sports and business.

Marily Paralika and Benjamin Siino, co-Presidents of the PAW, are delighted: “We are very honoured that Florence Gravellier has agreed to speak at the launch of the 8th edition of the PAW. Her speech on diversity and inclusion, combined with her experience in professional sport and an exceptional calendar in 2024, will provide a unique opportunity for reflection and sharing. Florence is the ideal person to share her point of view on how diversity and inclusion issues are being accounted for around the world, and to help us open up new avenues for reflection in this area. We are convinced that her speech will go down in the annals of PAW and be remembered for a long time to come!”

As for the opening cocktail party, a particularly eagerly awaited event for all PAW participants and partners, it will be held this year in a no less exceptional venue, further marking the attractiveness of Paris: the Parisian City Hall (Hôtel de Ville).

An ever more innovative online experience

At the previous edition, the PAW launched a new website offering new features for partners and visitors alike. Driven by a spirit of constant innovation, the PAW is offering no less than 3 new features on its website this year, which will further enhance the user experience:

  • The PAW Network, which will make it possible to access the list of all participants in an event to which a person is registered (if the organising partner so permits), thus facilitating exchanges between members of the international arbitration community;
  • The PAW Pass, a unique QR Code to access all the events that each participants registers for;
  • The Digital Library, a free digital database accessible to all visitors registered on the website, to which each partner will be able to contribute by publishing the high-level scientific and academic content (videos, articles, etc.) relating to their events, thereby creating the largest digital library dedicated to international arbitration for the benefit of the international community.

Bringing together all the key players in international arbitration in Paris to ensure the success of the PAW

The PAW’s guiding principle is to unite and bring together all the players contributing to the promotion and success of international arbitration. This unique event, which puts in the limelight the central role played by Paris under the impulsion of French legal thinking, will continue to ensure the promotion and development of international arbitration.

For the first time in its history, PAW will be holding an event dedicated to in-house legal counsels and to the association’s paying partners.

Thanks to these new partnerships, this forthcoming edition will bring together the entire international arbitration community (law firms, experts, third-party funders, companies, universities, arbitration institutions, courts, public institutions, associations, database publishers, etc.).

The theme of sport takes centre stage in this Olympic year

In addition to Florence Gravellier’s speech to launch the PAW 2024, and to celebrate the Olympic Games this year, the PAW Boardwill be offering all seasoned (and less seasoned) sportsmen and women the chance to take part in “PAW Games” on the theme of “The battle of the seats“.

•••

The 2023 edition in figures

  • 143 events listed in the week’s official calendar
  • 152 partners
  • 26,000 event registrations and 5,600 individual visitor accounts created on the website
  • 220 LinkedIn publications and over 13,500 followers

•••

Press

Amélie Lerosier – + 33 6 63 58 34 62 – amelie@blue-wall.com

Juliette Rohmer – + 33 7 60 21 20 34 – juliette@blue-wall.com

•••

PAW at a glance

PARIS ARBITRATION WEEK is an annual event that takes place over a week in Paris, a major hub for international arbitration. Created in 2017, Paris Arbitration Week has fast become a key event for arbitration practitioners from around the globe.

Its objective is to bring together practitioners from all over the world to discuss issues and developments in the field, whether they concern investment or commercial arbitration, the impact of national legislation or international trade agreements on arbitration, and the evolution of practices in international arbitration.  This week is also an opportunity to create a series of informal opportunities to meet and exchange during the various cocktails and evening gatherings.