Welcome to the GAR 100, Global Arbitration Review’s guide to specialist international arbitration practices.

Over the years, it has become obvious that international arbitration is its own skill set – separate from litigation. Law firms in turn have responded, offering "international arbitration groups". How can users of international arbitration find the firms that have true experience and ringcraft?

That’s where this guide comes in. Firms that wish to appear in the GAR 100 have to open up their books to our researchers and show us what they’ve worked on and in front of whom. We look for firms that can demonstrate a consistent stream of hearings before credible arbitrators. Our research is also informed by our daily news coverage of the most important cases.

The GAR 100 offers advice on practices of all sizes from all parts of the world, all audited by GAR. It's grown beyond the original 100 firms: there are 185 firms in this, the 15th edition. There’s also a ranking (the GAR 30) of the busiest practices, which is based on objective data, including the size and number of disputes that have gone to hearings in the past two years. We also provide a Power Index of the most frequently appointed expert witness firms in such cases.

Most of this edition was written before the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine. That terrible conflict has caused seismic shifts in the legal landscape, with several international law firms closing down their Russian offices and saying that they will renounce Russian clients – even as they grapple with the effect of international sanctions.

Although we have done our best to incorporate these developments where relevant, the information in the profiles only purports to be correct as at 1 February 2022, and details about offices and specific clients might be out of date.