Arbitration experts predict a wave of investor-state arbitration disputes could be coming in response to the strict lockdown measures taken by most countries, and urge pre-emptive engagement by arbitration experts to build a common approach toward mediating disputes.

At the fifth annual Paris Arbitration Week conference last week, Ziad Obeid, managing partner of Beirut-based international law firm, and Zeina Obeid, a litigation and arbitration partner at the firm, said that COVID-19 restrictions could lead to a slew of new ISDS disputes.