On 14 October 2011, a debate entitled "The Future of Multiparty Arbitration – Mass Claims or a Mass of Problems?" took place at the University of Warsaw (Faculty of Law).

The debate was attended by leading arbitration practitioners in Poland and consisted of two panels, with each of them discussing an important recent decision in the field of multi-party arbitration. Both panels had the formula of a dispute, in which the participants defended opposing positions.

The first panel was moderated by Dr. Rafał Morek (Associate, K&L Gates) and concerned the admissibility of class arbitration on the basis of a landmark judgment of the US Supreme Court in the case of AT&T Mobility LLC v Concepcion (see Legal update, Supreme Court holds that Federal Arbitration Act preempts California rule on unconscionability: full update). Michał Jochemczak (Senior Associate, Salans) advocated the admissibility of the investigation of these claims in arbitration, pointing out that it allows the parties, especially consumers, to pursue their relatively small claims in situations where individual proceedings would be too costly. Taking the opposite position, Justyna Szpara (Managing Partner, Łaszczuk and Partners) emphasised that arbitration institutions are not prepared to conduct proceedings in which there are hundreds or thousands of claimants.

The second panel concerned the recent award in Abaclat and others v Argentina (see Legal update, Tribunal has jurisdiction over collective claim (ICSID)) and the admissibility of collective redress in investment arbitration. The panel, whose moderator was Dr. Rudolf Ostrihansky (UW), clashed with Wojciech Kozłowski (Partner, Salans) and Dr. Wojciech Sadowski (Counsel, K&L Gates), as supporters of group claims in investment arbitration, and Dr. Marek Jeżewski (UKSW) and Bartosz Krużewski (Partner, Clifford Chance), as opponents of class actions in investment arbitration. The former pointed out that, as the acts of host states may adversely affect the interests of a large group of investors, it would be unreasonable to deny them the right to claim in a collective manner. The opponents of class actions argued in response that collective redress against states requires express consent of those countries expressed in bilateral investment treaties.

On 15 October 2011, following the debate, the first Foreign Direct Investment Competition Pre-Moot took place in Warsaw. In preparation for the 2011 FDI Moot in London on 4-6 November, students of Polish, Czech, Lithuanian and Belarusian universities had an opportunity to practise their advocacy skills in front of renowned arbitration practitioners from Poland and abroad. This event was the third of its kind organised in Warsaw this year, after the Vis competition pre-moot in February and the FIAMC pre-moot in March. The popularity of these events proves that, along with the development of arbitration in Poland and regionally, students are becoming increasingly interested in this field of practice.