The ever-growing world of international arbitration presents many challenges and opportunities for practitioners, writes Claire Chaffey, and Bronwyn Lincoln is taking them all in her stride.

For the Australian legal sector, it seems that international arbitration is the new black. Clients with an increasingly global reach are seeing the benefits of this form of alter­native dispute resolution, and lawyers are becoming increas­ingly interested in it as a practice area.

Further, the development of last year's International Arbi­tration Amendment Bill, and the announcement that Sydney will be home to the new Australian International Disputes Cen­tre, have firmly ensconced Australia in the international arbitration scene.

One woman at the forefront of Australia's progression in relation to international arbi­tration is Freehills partner and recent appointee to the London Court of Interna­tional Arbitration (LCIA), Bronwyn Lincoln.

A graded arbitrator and partner in Free­hills' litigation practice, Lincoln now occu­pies a rare and prestigious post - as councillor of the LCIA Asia Pacific Users Council - with what is one of the world's most recognised arbitral bodies.

"I was approached by the LCIA and asked if I would take the role. I didn't hesi­tate. I was very honoured," says Lincoln.

"There are some very eminent people on the council, and I am really looking for­ward to having the opportunity to work with them."

Lincoln can credit her LCIA appoint­ment to her formidable reputation as an international arbitrator, built up over sev­eral years of hard work and global net­working. "It is really just a matter of becoming known. The international arbi­tration community is a close knit com­munity, so it really is important when you do this sort of work to be seen to be working globally," she says.

Lincoln's climb to the top of the arbi­tration ladder began during a secondment from Freehills to Clifford Chance in Lon­don in 1994.

Although working as a litigator, it was in London that Lincoln was exposed to the burgeoning and exciting world of international arbitration, and she never looked back.

"I got to know a lot of people in the international arbitration department and I came back to Australia having seen that side of [the law] and I had a real interest in it," she says.

"Fortuitously, because I did a lot of construction and project dispute work, our clients were going offshore and they were starting to use international arbitra­tion to resolve their disputes."

Thus commenced a new era for Lin­coln, with a number of high profile cases taking her to the likes of Paris, Switzer­land and Singapore.

By the time Australia caught up with the rest of the world in its approach to international arbitration, Lincoln was ready for it: armed with rare and invalu­able experience and expertise.

And according to Lincoln, Australia is now well and truly in step with the world's leading international arbitrators, and she is proud to now be in a role in which she can further promote and strengthen inter­national arbitration in the region.

"The LCIA is not a court in itself - that is a bit of a misnomer - but it is an institution [which] has developed user councils in key regions around the world," says Lincoln.

"My role is to promote arbitration under the banner of the LCIA, to organ­ise symposia or other events ... to exchange information and keep up to date. I will be working with councillors from the other countries in the region, like Singapore, Hong Kong, Brunei, India, and New Zealand."

As luck would have it, Lincoln is also passionate about her work - something which drives her to achieve at a high level.

"I love what I do. I have always said, right from when I started at Freehills, that if I stopped enjoying what I do, then I'd­ have to stop doing it," says Lincoln."Inter­national arbitration is just so diverse - it's working with clients, it's new law and exposure to different legal systems."

It is also, says Lincoln, very challeng­ing, especially when it comes to keeping abreast of current laws from around the world. But this appears to be more of an attraction than a deterrent.

"Like a lot of partners in law firms, I probably tend to be a bit of a perfection­ist. I need something that is challenging. Challenges make me tick," she says.

"Every case that comes through the door is a new challenge. And because you are dealing with different legal systems and different laws, any day could bring in a new matter which involves a legal sys­tem I haven't had exposure to."