Equal representation in arbitration

Taylor Wessing takes the pledge!

Promoting diversity is very important to us. So when the DIS-ERA Pledge Gender Champion Initiative was introduced by the German Arbitration Institution (DIS) and Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge (ERA Pledge) in October 2019, we were quick to take part.

Created in response to the under-representation of women on international arbitral tribunals, the ERA Pledge seeks to increase – on an equal opportunity basis – the number of women appointed as arbitrators, in order to achieve fair representation as soon practically possible, with the ultimate goal of full parity. Based on the work of ERA Pledge, the DIS-ERA pilot project aims to encourage gender equality in international arbitration. To achieve this goal, law firms are called upon to subject themselves to self-monitoring.

Donata v. Enzberg and Michael Wietzorek are our nominated Gender Champions, and they will monitor the appointment of female and male arbitrators nominated by the firm over the coming years. The idea behind the Gender Champion Initiative is to harness the effectiveness of statistical self-monitoring to raise awareness around gender equality in international arbitration. We eagerly await our first gender equality statistics, and hope to improve gender diversity on arbitral panels due to this initiative.

We encourage everyone to register with ERA and take the pledge.