Sarah Grimmer

Twenty Essex

Singapore www.twentyessex.com

sgrimmer@twentyessex.com Tel: +65 6225 7230

Biography

Sarah Grimmer is an arbitrator at Twenty Essex in Singapore. She served as secretary general of the HKIAC from 2016 to 2022. Prior to that, she was senior legal counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague where she worked from 2006 to 2016. Sarah also worked in Paris at the ICC International Court of Arbitration and Shearman & Sterling, and spent three years in private practice in New Zealand. She is admitted to practice in New Zealand.

At the time of submission, Sarah Grimmer was at Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, but has since moved to Twenty Essex in Singapore.

What insights have you gained about institutional arbitration from your work at institutions?

At the ICC, I gained experience in administering hundreds of international commercial cases. I was exposed to many procedural issues and the importance of good internal systems to ensure all cases are dealt with efficiently. At the PCA, I worked on fewer cases but in a much more substantive way. The PCA attracts some of the most significant inter-state, investor-state, and commercial disputes in the world (and in history). Each case is administered in a bespoke manner. There I learned the importance of designing procedure for each specific case.

At the HKIAC I applied those insights to the approximately 300 new cases HKIAC administers each year.

To what extent has the HKIAC been impacted by political developments in Hong Kong? Do you see this changing?

HKIAC’s case administration is not impacted by political developments in Hong Kong. HKIAC administers cases as before, independently and according to the applicable procedural rules and law at the seat. HKIAC’s decision-making bodies are comprised of experienced practitioners, arbitrators, and/or in-house counsel from all over the world. It is an independent entity with an international and experienced secretariat, and 37 years of experience. Case numbers are growing: three of the last six years have been record years, and 2022 will set another record.

In what ways is arbitration becoming greener? Do clients also have a role to play in this transformation?

There is widespread demand generally to see less waste in arbitration, particularly in terms of time and cost, but also in terms of minimising activity that adversely impacts the environment. Arbitration is becoming “greener” in that participants now question more the need to, for example, print hard copies when electronic copies will do or fly to an in-person hearing when a virtual one will suffice. Clients have a role as much as any other participant in affecting change and to the extent going “greener” saves costs, it aligns with their interest. Much effort has gone into identifying techniques to make arbitration greener; for example, the Green Campaign has issued protocols that may be adopted in arbitration.

Do you envisage the emergence of any new arbitration seats in the Asia-Pacific region that will rival those currently most popular?

To be among the most popular arbitration seats in the Asia-Pacific region for international arbitration, a jurisdiction needs to have four things: (i) excellent arbitration legislation; (ii) an independent judiciary proficient in arbitration matters; (iii) a well-functioning arbitral institution that adopts international best practice; and (iv) international business. Without one of those elements, a jurisdiction’s ability to rival the most popular seats in APAC will be limited.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in arbitration?

1. Do your best on every assignment given to you. 2. Learn to write well. 3. Volunteer to work on arbitrationrelated projects. 4. Get to know as many people as you can in arbitration and find ways as for them to experience your good work. But do not get so busy that you compromise the quality of your primary work (see note 1).

What has been your greatest achievement to date?

Hiring good people.

WWL says: Sarah Grimmer is “absolutely excellent” report peers, and “combines academic intelligence with great management and people skills”.