Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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The contractual disputes now emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic will require arbitral tribunals to apply civil or common law principles to resolve the parties’ competing claims.

These principles will determine the outcome of a wide variety of cases involving complex facts and different kinds of agreements. Consider, for example, the following four scenarios:

1. A U.S. buyer backs out of a contract to purchase a global retail chain after the seller closes multiple stores due to Covid-19.

2. A Chinese company refuses to buy the contractually required amount of natural gas from a French supplier following a sharp decline in demand due to Covid-19.