ITA - The Institute for Transnational Arbitration 62d ago

This interview is a part of a series organized by the ITA Academic Council to record the evolution of modern international arbitration in the words of those who have led it. This interview was recorded in Houston, Texas, on January 23, 2026, during the 14th ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration. JOHN JUDGE is an Arbitrator and Barrister with Arbitra International, an arbitrator chambers in London, England, specializing in international and Canadian domestic arbitration. He has served as an international arbitrator for over 25 years. He commenced his career as an international arbitrator during his 35 years of counsel practice at Stikeman Elliott LLP in Toronto where he had become a senior litigation partner with a diverse litigation practice. He left Stikemans in 2013 to launch his independent arbitrator practice, becoming a founding Resident Arbitrator at Arbitration Place (Toronto). He also then joined 39 Essex Chambers in London as a Member Barrister to continue his practice as an international arbitrator, with a counsel practice limited to Canadian court matters arising from international arbitrations. He remained at 39 Essex Chambers until May 2021, when he became a founding member of Arbitra International in London, a new chambers limited to arbitrators. Mr. Judge is regularly recognized by the leading publications as one of the most highly recommended Canadian international arbitrators JESSICA CROW is an independent arbitrator and academic at the University of Cambridge. She specialises in disputes in the energy and natural resources sector, and in matters involving climate change, the environment and public international law. She also has broad experience in complex commercial disputes in construction and infrastructure, insurance including political risk, technology and telecommunications, joint-venture and shareholder disputes. Jessica’s practice spans proceedings under the LCIA, ICC, SIAC, SCC, ICSID and UNCITRAL Rules. She has been appointed in matters involving renewable energy, major engineering and industrial facilities, transportation infrastructure, urban regeneration, digital-asset transactions, commercial agency and distribution, and corporate governance disputes. She has acted under a wide range of governing laws, and her experience extends across key arbitral seats and jurisdictions in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia. At the University of Cambridge, Jessica teaches international dispute resolution, climate law and environmental policy, and conducts research at the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy, and Natural Resource Governance (CEENRG). She holds appointments as a Fellow in Climate and Nature Governance at the World Economic Forum, as a Fellow at the Cambridge Centre for Climate Engagement, and as a researcher at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law. Before establishing her independent practice, Jessica worked in the international arbitration groups of leading global firms in London and Paris and served as in-house counsel with a major EPC contractor in the energy sector. She is admitted in New York and as a solicitor in England & Wales, and is fluent in English and French.