Young ICCA Skills Training Workshop: Damages in International Arbitration

Back in Japan for the first time since 2019, Young ICCA is organizing a workshop on damages in international arbitration in Tokyo.

Date: 22 April 2025, 17:30 - 20:30 (UTC+09)                                                                                                                                        

City: Tokyo, Japan

Venue: Freshfields (Akasaka Biz Tower, 36F 5-3-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-6336,  Japan)

Hosted by Freshfields and developed in conjunction with FTI Consulting and Osborne Partners, this interactive workshop is geared towards young practitioners. It aims to provide attendees with not only theoretical knowledge of the salient principles relating to damages issues in international arbitration, but also a flavor of how to approach valuation and the quantification of damages in practice.

This workshop will be split into two sessions to cover both the theoretical and the practical.

The first session on theory will explore, among other things, key principles, common law and civil law approaches, and interesting developments in Japan and other key Asian jurisdictions.

The second session will put the theory into practice. It will use a mock case to illustrate the methodologies used in building (and rebutting) damages claims. Attendees will participate in a guided discussion with the panelists who will dissect and analyze the case in real-time.

The workshop will end with a cocktail reception.

Registration

This event is free of charge and will be held in hybrid format. Please register by 16 April. Due to limited capacity, successful registrants wishing to attend in person will be notified a few days before the event.

Speakers

Welcome remarks: Nicholas Lingard (Partner, Freshfields)

Panelists:

Yoshimi Ohara (Partner, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu)

Braden Billiet (Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting)

Oliver Watts (Partner, Osborne Partners)

Samantha Tan (Partner, Freshfields)

Moderator:

Morgane Guyonnet (Associate, Freshfields, and Young ICCA Representative for Japan)

Event Report: Young ICCA Workshop on Damages in International Arbitration – Tokyo, 22 April 2025

Written by Shota Toda and Anju Kurihara

For the first time since 2019, Young ICCA returned to Tokyo with a hybrid workshop on damages in international arbitration, drawing young practitioners and students from across the region for an evening of interactive learning and professional exchange. Hosted by Freshfields in collaboration with FTI Consulting and Osborne Partners, the workshop welcomed a full room of in-person participants, while more than 200 additional attendees joined virtually from around the world. Structured into two main sessions, the three-hour workshop first focused on the theoretical foundations of damages claims and valuation methodologies, then moved to their practical application through a mock arbitration case. Marking Young ICCA’s first in-person gathering in Japan in over five years, the event successfully rekindled in-person engagement within the local arbitration community.

The event opened with welcoming remarks from Nicholas Lingard, Partner at Freshfields, who emphasized the critical importance of mastering damages-related issues in international arbitration, particularly for young practitioners aiming to build their technical proficiency.

Moderated by Morgane Guyonnet, Associate at Freshfields and Young ICCA Representative for Japan, the first session explored the legal framework of damages in international arbitration. Samantha Tan, Partner at Freshfields, and Yoshimi Ohara, Partner at Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, led a comparative discussion on the core principles governing damages, with attention to jurisdictional nuances. Topics included the distinction between expectation and reliance damages, evidentiary requirements for claimants, and common counterarguments such as mitigation and contributory negligence. The panel also highlighted key differences in common law and civil law approaches, drawing judicial trends across multiple jurisdictions.

This foundational discussion was followed by a technical presentation from valuation experts Braden Billiet, Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, and Oliver Watts, Partner at Osborne Partners. The experts unpacked essential valuation concepts, including the selection of the assessment date (e.g., date of breach versus date of award) and the potential impact of that choice on quantum calculations. They explained key valuation methods—such as income-based approaches (e.g., DCF analysis), market-based approaches (e.g., trading and transaction multiples), and asset-based approaches—and demonstrated how these methodologies can be strategically employed in arbitration to support or challenge damage claims.

The second session translated theory into practice through an interactive case study centered on a joint venture dispute. The case involved a claim based on a call option for shares, which required the valuation of the business’s fair market value. Using a mock arbitration scenario, the panelists guided attendees through the structuring of damages claims and the formulation of potential rebuttals within the applicable legal framework. The session then encouraged real-time discussion on the strategic implications of different valuation methods and how factual nuances can affect each party’s position. 

The panel also explored the consequences of selecting different valuation dates and demonstrated how applying various valuation approaches could yield materially different outcomes. This led the audience to appreciate the critical importance of methodological choices in damages analysis. As practical advice for practitioners, the panelists emphasized the importance of addressing damages issues early in the arbitration process to ensure the internal consistency of a party’s case. They also encouraged participants to aim for realistic and defensible valuations that avoid the pitfalls of inflated claims. Finally, the discussion highlighted the need to craft damages arguments that can withstand rigorous scrutiny, particularly in the context of enforcement proceedings.

The workshop concluded with a cocktail reception for in-person attendees, overlooking the Tokyo skyline, providing a relaxed atmosphere for further dialogue between attendees and speakers. The event reaffirmed Young ICCA’s continued commitment to empowering the next generation of arbitration practitioners through professional development opportunities, both locally and globally.