Constantine Partasides QC – Partner, Three Crowns LLP 

“The IAC offering works well in the age of Coronavirus; easy-to-use technology, and helpful technical assistants on hand throughout, that allows participants to focus on what they need to focus on – the hearing substance.” 

Lucy Greewood – Independent Arbitrator 

“Thank you so much to the IAC for their expert management of our recent fully remote hearing.  The technology was excellent and although I was sorry to miss out on the IAC coffee, the entire hearing ran so smoothly I almost forgot it was all taking place from my home office.  You did a masterful job in coordinating so many participants (and languages).  I look forward to working with you all again soon.”

John Uff – Arbitrator –  Keating Chambers

“My online case was expertly managed by IAC over 3 weeks with hardly a glitch.  The technicians were particularly helpful when one of the participants encountered problems with their own equipment.  The combination of Opus 2 and IAC made for a seamless procedure which made one forget that the participants were distributed throughout the UK.  I will have no hesitation recommending IAC for other cases.”

John Judge – Independent Arbitrator

“The IAC Virtual Platform has been an easy yet extraordinary tool to use for today’s procedural hearing.  It was the first time ever that counsel and the tribunal have met “face to face”, albeit virtually.  With counsel and Tribunal members spread across four continents and six time zones, it performed  flawlessly, and far superior to a telephone conference or simple reliance on the papers.  Counsel and the Tribunal were able to more effectively engage with one another, pursue probative questions to get the heart of the issues and read each other’s reactions.  Certainly a major cost savings for the parties. The secure tribunal breakout room readily facilitated immediate and private deliberations. A great tool for use going forward, during and after the pandemic.”

David Brynmor-Thomas QC – Arbitrator

‘Congratulations and thanks for how well you hosted our entirely online hearing. Both the service we had from your staff and the quality of hearing we were able to have were very high quality’.

‘I particularly liked the way advocates, witnesses and the tribunal have camera and mic access, with other attendees “at the back of the room” to see and hear everything, able to join the hearing if need be but with no risk of them accidentally being heard or joining in’.

‘The operation of the call by the IAC technician was great, as the Presiding arbitrator was not distracted at all’.

‘Your integration with Optus worked very well on screen’.

‘The separate breakout rooms are useful, set up in such a way that they are definitely secure’.

Partner – Addleshaw Goddard

“The IAC hosted a major merits hearing on its virtual platform for us in June 2020.  The platform worked seamlessly and without a hitch over two weeks, with evidence being given from multiple countries and with translators aplenty.  The interface with the electronic bundle was perfect and the service we received was of the highest order.”

Partner – K&L  Gates

“Thank you for your hard work in the lead up to and during the recent hearing.

We were extremely pleased with the support we received in what we appreciate was sometimes challenging circumstances given the number of participants and locations and the special considerations around confidentiality added to the late evenings finishes.  The IAC Technician was extremely responsive and helpful throughout.”

Christopher Style QC – OEC

“I have just finished a fully remote three week hearing hosted by IAC Online. It was pretty demanding. We had multiple participants from up to 50 different locations across Europe and the US. We started between noon and 2pm London time and finished between 9 and 11pm. It all worked seamlessly. I was based in a (luxurious) “pod” in 190FS, where I was very well looked after. Lunch and dinner were delicious and I had expert IT help on demand (for when I pressed the wrong button). Many thanks to the team!”

Alison Fagan – DLA Piper

“The hearing process was seamless. A great technical platform (as we expected) but the confidence provided by having the IAC support team on hand was a real differentiator and allowed our Claimant Team to focus fully on the hearing itself”

Christoph Brunner – Peter & Kim

“I have used IAC for an evidentiary hearing with parties, counsel and witnesses from the Middle East and Switzerland in November 2020. All participants highly appreciated the test runs prior to the hearing and the prompt intervention from the IAC team to deal with any technical problem throughout the hearing. The interface with the e-bundles, real-time transcription and evidence projection worked perfectly well and made the virtual hearing a very satisfactory experience for all actors involved.”

Victor Prokofiev – Leading Russian Language Interpreter

“I have recently done interpreting work at the IAC and was able to see some of the new rooms which offer an excellent layout, very user-friendly, top-notch equipment all around, and extremely helpful and nice staff. Great new platform for arbitration hearings in London.” 

Louis Flannery QC & Heidrun Walsh – Mishcon de Reya

“By far the most user friendly platform we have used. Support was first rate and the arbitration room screen made the hearing easy to follow”

Leading Tribunal  

“The IAC team stepped up during an unprecedented crisis where long planned physical hearings had to be pushed into the virtual world or otherwise faced delays.

The IAC team provided invaluable online hearing support, from assisting each participant with their individual technical set up,  the offering of countless test sessions and the coordination of the individual providers (such as interpreters, court reporters and document sharing platforms). It managed to replicate – as far as possible –   a physical hearing situation by even providing an online breakout room!

We can highly recommend the IAC for any virtual hearings and will certainly use it again and hopefully not only in a virtual world”

Rosemary Jackson QC – Mediator

“It was very helpful to have technical help on hand whenever someone’s sound or video dropped out, or when they needed help to get to the right breakout room. 

As Day 2 of the mediation wound towards a successful conclusion after 3am it was very reassuring to have the cheery voice of the technical assistant, on hand, sounding as bright and energetic as she had been when we commenced at 9.30am the previous morning.”

Philippa Charles – Arbitrator

“Very many thanks to you and to all the IAC team for a seamless offering in supporting my hearing this week.  The integration of the IAC video platform with Opus 2 is fantastic, allowing the witnesses to view the documents being shared by the EPE operator while being cross-examined with minimal delay (probably no less time than they would spend turning up a document in a hard copy bundle), while I could view the transcript and the bundle on a second screen. All the witnesses were ready to join into the hearing room at the moment they were required, again with minimal delay.  The stability of the feeds was excellent throughout – but I was particularly impressed with the prompt interventions from the IAC technicians to deal with any glitches as they arose, and we lost relatively little time over our three days to technical problems. 

What surprised me the most was how much like an “ordinary” hearing it felt, despite every participant joining from a different location: the hearing environment is maintained, and I am sure assisted, by keeping the focus of the Tribunal on the active participants and reducing the visual clutter or distraction which might be posed by a wider group appearing on screen.  It has been a pleasure, and I look forward to the next opportunity to work with you and your team, before too long. I would be happy to recommend to tribunal colleagues or to the parties that they use this system in preference to a wait of uncertain duration before we can have hearings in person again.”

I really mean that this has been a pleasure – you and your team have been brilliant end to end.”

“We were very impressed and grateful for how smoothly everything ran.”

Ashurst LLP

“Huge thank you from us for arranging today’s hearing, getting everyone up to speed with the tech, and being on hand today to assist. It was clear, impressive, and the technology worked very well and we will report back to the wider team on what was a very positive experience”

Richard Fernyhough QC – Arbitrator

“A very satisfactory experience both from the IAC and all the actors in what has been my first full virtual hearing. As a tribunal member, I was at first apprehensive as to whether I would be able to master the technology which was new to me. But after your helpful and sensitive training sessions I felt much more confident.

On the “techy” side  I also got help from the IAC technicians which included good advice on which additional display screen to buy and which connecting cable I needed for my Apple Mac PC. Very much a complete service.

So far as the hearing of 10 days was concerned, it all went off remarkably smoothly considering the different time zones involved and witnesses giving evidence in three languages with two interpreters. Inevitably there were the odd minor glitches occasionally but, whenever they occurred, Rachel Bidmead was onto it like a shot and invariably fixed it very speedily indeed.

To my mind it is highly likely that virtual hearings will become the norm in international arbitration, and IAC is very well placed to benefit from this potential market.”

Yash Kulkarni QC – Lead Counsel

“Our experience over the past week has been first class. Well done on setting up an excellent platform for virtual arbitration that has the effect, as you say, of lawyers being able to do their lawyering and arbitrators being able to do their arbitrating without thinking too much about the surreal nature of a virtual hearing…!

Having the IAC technician in the background the whole time meant that things ran very smoothly indeed. The ability to have documents brought up to the tribunal and to witnesses meant that what might have been otherwise challenging delays in witness handling became seamless.

Well done again. I would have no hesitation in recommending the IAC for my next arbitration.”

Phil Withey – Addleshaw Goddard

“Just wanted to drop you both a line to say how pleased we and the clients were with your platform and that everything ran very smoothly across the two days.

We finally got there at about 3.30am and we were very grateful for the IAC technician’s assistance and hard work behind the scenes to keep things up and running.”

Preston Turnbull

“Many thanks to the entire IAC team for their proactive and helpful attitude. We were particularly impressed with how seamlessly they liaised with and organised the factual witnesses to ensure the hearing went smoothly and without issue.”

Magic Circle Law Firm

“By far the most user friendly platform we have used. Support was first rate and the arbitration room screen made the hearing easy to follow”

Leading Tribunal  

“On behalf of the three of us, can I thank you and the IAC team for all your help and patience.

It could not have gone more smoothly and we were very reassured and impressed by the software and how well it works.

Many thanks,”

Atkin Chambers  

“Members of Atkin Chambers using the IAC’s virtual hearing platform were impressed by the operation of the technology and its user friendliness. Counsel from Atkin Chambers were amongst the active participants in a hearing in an international arbitration. The active participants comprised the tribunal members, counsel and instructing solicitors, all of whom were able to see and hear one another clearly. Passive users reported that they were able to see and hear the participants clearly. In addition the platform allowed the documents to be shared clearly on screen”.

Karim Ghaly QC – 39 Essex Chambers

“I used the IAC Virtual Platform for a 7-day hearing in November 2020. It was excellent.

Around 40 people participated in the hearing from a range of locations – spanning Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. The interface is intuitive – one 30-minute training session was all that was required to get up and running. The platform itself was stable throughout the hearing and a pleasure to use. Just as importantly, the IAC staff who operated the platform and provided the training went out of their way to ensure that everything worked perfectly.”

Withersworldwide

“IAC have been extraordinary helpful in adjusting our arbitration hearing to online format in the tough times of COVID-19. You have made this new experience easy and efficient. Thank you for guidance and assistance throughout the whole process.”

Hope to work with you again soon!”