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The American Society of International Law (ASIL) agreed, in 2017, that it was appropriate to have an entire panel at the Annual Meeting dedicated to exploring the value of women in international adjudication. Although the panel occurred at 9:00 a.m. on the Saturday before Easter, we were pleased that the room was sufficiently packed—with men and women—that there was standing room only.

Investment treaty arbitration has become a flashpoint in the backlash against globalization, with costs becoming an area of core scrutiny. Yet 'conventional wisdom' about costs is not necessarily wise. To separate fact from fiction, this text reality tests claims about investment arbitration & fiscal costs against hard data so that policy reforms can be informed by scientific evidence, rather than intuition or cognitive illusions. The exercise is critical, as investment treaties grant international arbitrators the power to order states - both rich & poor - to pay potentially millions of dollars to foreign investors when states violate the international law commitments made in the treaties. Meanwhile, the cost to access & defend the arbitration can also be in the millions of dollars. This text examines this topic.