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Nearly half of in-house counsel are in favor of a right of appeal for international arbitration, according to a new report published by Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.

According to the firm's Annual Arbitration Survey 2020, which focused on appealing international arbitration results, 46% of in-house counsel said the right to appeal would make arbitration more attractive.

"One [reason] may be that it is in-house counsel who are left to deal with the practical consequences of a bad decision when the external lawyers have gone home," said Carol Mulcahy, a partner at Bryan Cave in London, in an email to Corporate Counsel.

Mulcahy said that 62% of in-house counsel felt that the incorrect decision in some cases are "so serious as to make the lack of an appeal mechanism unacceptable."

"Given the consensual nature of arbitration and its intended flexibility in meeting the needs of business users, should not the arbitration process at least offer the option of an appeal?" the report states in making an argument for the ability to appeal arbitration.

Only 38% of in-house counsel who responded to the survey were concerned about the cost associated with appealing decisions that come from arbitration. Additionally, only 38% of in-house counsel indicated they were concerned about the amount of time the appeals process would take for arbitration.

If an appeals process for international arbitration were allowed, there remains a question of who would preside over the appeal. Roughly 77% of in-house counsel would rather have an internal mechanism for arbitration appeals over having that process play out in national courts.

"If an appeal mechanism is available in both arbitration and court, and therefore becomes a neutral factor, some in-house counsel may consider the time and costs likely involved in each," Mulcahy said.

She said some courts put a deadline for the delivery of the appeal decision. Having an internal appeals process may "offer a more relaxed regime."

"An internal appeal is also more in keeping with the original choice of arbitration in preference to litigation," Mulcahy said.

The firm's annual arbitration survey received responses from 123 respondents, which included in-house counsel, arbitrators, academics, external lawyers working at law firms, employees of arbitral institutions, expert witnesses and litigation funders. The regions the respondents come from are Asia, North America, North Africa, Australasia, the Middle East, Latin America, Russia and Europe.