Atlanta Advances Plans to Become International Arbitration Center

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal recently signed legislation that will help Atlanta become a center for international commercial arbitration. 

The legislation creates distinct laws governing international and domestic arbitrations in Georgia.  The new international law is patterned after the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law, which has become the international standard and is familiar to both U.S. and foreign lawyers advising their clients on where to arbitrate.

This is the latest step in Atlanta’s push to become a center for international arbitration.  In 2010, a group of Atlanta lawyers formed the Atlanta International Arbitration Society (AtlAS), a nonprofit organization that promotes Atlanta as a leading neutral site for the resolution of international commercial and investment disputes.

The AtlAS web site touts some of Atlanta’s benefits:  “Atlanta is a global business gateway that is home to many of the world’s largest corporations and the world’s busiest airport, with direct flights available to most international business centers.  Yet despite its sophistication, Atlanta is one of the world’s least expensive major cities.  A city known worldwide for its hospitality and multicultural embrace, Atlanta is an ideal venue for international arbitrations.”

Atlanta is a major business and legal center in the southeastern United States, a region that, as a separate country, would have the 7th highest GDP in the world.  Atlanta is also a major international business center as the home to the third-largest concentration of Fortune 500 company headquarters in the United States.

John Howley, Esq.
New York, New York