Brief history
The history of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) dates all the way back to 1883, when the Court of Common Council of the City of London set up a committee to develop a tribunal for arbitration.
The institution was officially inaugurated in 1892. In 1903 the tribunal was renamed the London Court of Arbitration and in 1981 it adopted its current name of The London Court of International Arbitration to reflect its increasingly international caseload.
The LCIA is headquartered in London and it has access to some of the world’s most experienced arbitrators, mediators, and experts from across the globe.
Types of Disputes Referred to the LCIA
The LCIA administers a range of international disputes, and it is not limited by any particular sector or specialism.
That said, the highest proportion of its cases are referred from the transport and commodities industry. According to the annual casework report 2023, 36% of all of the LCIA’s cases were in this sector. This reflects its growing popularity for disputes arising out of international trade and shipping contracts.
The LCIA hears a number of cases in the banking & finance sector, and in energy & resources. These industries referred to 16% and 14% respectively of the LCIA’s caseload in 2023.
Arbitration Rules
The LCIA has its own set of rules, which were last updated in 2020. You can view them here.
However, the LCIA regularly acts as the appointing authority and administers arbitrations pursuant to the UNCITRAL Rules. These disputes tend to be in respect of shareholders’ agreements, share purchase agreements, or joint ventures.
Why choose LCIA arbitration?
One of the reasons parties choose LCIA over other institutions is its focus on efficiency and minimising costs. From 2013 to 2016, the median costs of LCIA arbitrations were $97,000, which is the lowest median arbitration costs of all leading arbitration institutions.
The charging structure is based on hourly rates, rather than a percentage of the value of the claim (in contrast to some other arbitral institutions such as the International Chamber of Commerce). That often leads to lower overall costs, and it means that parties do not have to quantify claims at the outset. Quantum for the claim can be more accurately assessed once all of the evidence has been scrutinised.
Other reasons parties choose the LCIA include:
- Urgency: Emergency arbitrators are available for urgent matters.
- Speed: It is possible to seek early determination of claims. The full process is often quicker than the ICC because there is no requirement for Terms of Reference.
- Finality: appeal rights are waived unless agreed otherwise. In addition, many LCIA arbitrations choose London as the seat due to the non-interventionalist approach of the English courts.
LCIA Arbitrators
The default position is the LCIA Court will appoint a sole arbitrator, but the parties can agree otherwise (and often do).
In 2023, 48% of arbitrators were chosen by the parties.
While the default position is for a sole arbitrator, less than half (44%) of the tribunals in 2023 comprised sole arbitrators. 56% of tribunals were three-member tribunals.
This perhaps reflects that parties are comfortable with the charging structure of the LCIA, and are happy to incur higher fees of a larger tribunal.
Parties often choose one arbitrator each, with a third appointed as a chair. This gives the parties a say in their preferred arbitrator, based on nationality and experience, while upholding impartiality in the tribunal.
How much does LCIA arbitration cost?
In order to begin the arbitration, the claimant files a Request for Arbitration, together with a non-refundable registration fee of £1,950.
Time spent by the Secretariat of the LCIA in the administration of the arbitration is charged by the hour, in the following values:
| Registrar / Deputy Registrar | £300 per hour |
| Counsel | £285 per hour |
| Case administrators | £220 per hour |
| Casework accounting functions | £190 per hour |
The Tribunal’s hourly rates range from £250 - £600 an hour.
A full Schedule of Arbitration Costs can be found on the LCIA’s website, or you can read our commentary on the new schedule of costs, guidance notes and terms and conditions here.
