This ICSID Arbitration Cost Calculator estimates ICSID administrative and arbitrator fees while also estimating all other typical costs to pursue an investment treaty arbitration from an initial notice of dispute through to a final arbitration award. Its calculations are based on the research and findings listed below.
Approximately 80% of costs in ICSID arbitration proceedings relate to the costs of external legal counsel, so this ICSID arbitration cost calculator also estimates attorneys’ fees, expert and witness costs, in order to provide as realistic an assessment as possible of what to expect in terms of the expense of an ICSID arbitration.
The following assumptions are used for this ICSID arbitration cost calculator:
- Average ICSID administrative costs and average costs of the Arbitral Tribunal are based on data in Susan Franck’s “Rationalizing Costs in Investment Treaty Arbitration” (Washington University Law Review, 2011)
- Calculations are based on the ICSID Schedule of Fees effective as of July 31, 2013
- The duration of proceedings is based on Global Arbitration Review, “ICSID arbitration: how long does it take?” (2009)
- Attorney’s fees, which are by far the largest cost in any ICSID arbitration, are based on international surveys and UNCTAD, “International Investment Disputes on the Rise,” 29 November 2004
- Expert, witness, management and external costs use the findings of the CIArb’s Costs of International Arbitration Survey (2011) as a proxy
- For “low complexity” cases it is assumed that no legal or quantum experts are required
- Each party is assumed to split ICSID and Arbitral Tribunal costs equally