Set-off Defences in International Commercial Arbitration

Christiana Fountoulakis is a Professor at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. She received her law degree and her PhD from the University of Basel, Switzerland. From 2004 to 2009, she was an Assistant Professor at the same university and a Scholar in Residence with a US law firm in 2007. In 2009-2010 she was a Visiting Professor at the Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London. Her main fields of interest include Private and Comparative Private Law, International Business Trade Law as well as International Commercial Arbitration. Professor Fountoulakis regularly serves as a legal expert in international commercial disputes.

• Introduction 1 Key Aspects of Set-off I Definition II Significance and Functions of Set-off III Significance of Set-off in Modern Business Life IV Modern Problems with Set-off V Terminology 2 Set-off in a Comparative Survey I Incipiencies: Roman Law II Set-off in the Romanic Legal Systems III Set-off in the Germanic Legal Systems IV Set-off in England and English-based Jurisdictions V Comparative Analysis 3 Set-off in the Conflict of Laws 1 I. Determination of the Applicable Law in International Arbitration II Law-determination for Set-off in Classic Conflict of Laws III Criteria for a Suitable Rule to Determine the Law Applicable to a Set-off in International Arbitration IV Discussion of Classic Choice-of-Law Rules With Regard to Set-off V Other Choice-of-Law Solutions in International Arbitration VI Summary 4 Conclusions 5 Final Summary

Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with this finding and the underlying reasoning, the author first of all deserves credit for suggesting a well argued uniform set-off rule for international arbitration. ...the book will certainly serve as a thorough and reliable overview of certain jurisdictions as regards their approach to set-off and as a practical guide for arbitration practitioners to finding and supporting legal arguments to establish the best applicable set-off rule in a cross-border context. The author's clear diction and ability to take the reader by the hand makes Set-off Defences in International Commercial Arbitration an accessible and seizable topic on only 228 pages. Dr. Philipp K. Wagner Schieds VZ 2012, Heft 2