Expanding International Arbitration. Member Spotlight: Tiffany Comprés

Tiffany Comprés is an international arbitration specialist based in Miami, Florida and Paris, France. She works as both an advocate and an arbitrator, and is a proponent of mediation in international disputes.

Law and Mediation

Tiffany began her career as an art gallery manager after attending music school. As a speaker of English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian, she wanted to find a career that would allow her to use her language skills. She considered law school and began by working as a paralegal to ensure it would be a wise investment. She loved the work in litigation and arbitration. As a paralegal, she was given more liberty than most, and was often treated as a lawyer member of the team. After two years she enrolled at Georgetown University Law Center, and later completed an LL.M. at Sciences Po in Paris and an LL.M. at the Université de Paris, Panthéon-Sorbonne, both in Law and Economic Globalisation. Although she wanted to begin her career in international arbitration and was hired originally in that area at Proskauer in New York City, the financial crash of 2008 meant that Tiffany was moved to the real estate department. After 2 years, she relocated to Miami to focus on international law.

Expanding International Arbitration

Today, Tiffany is a partner at FisherBroyles LLP and works almost exclusively in international arbitration. She has clients all over the world, mostly in food & beverage, agriculture, and energy industries. She explains that the recently effective Singapore Convention, which is a treaty allowing mediation settlements to be enforced easily across borders, will hopefully contribute to the use of mediation in international commercial disputes. She has often worked with mediators in the past and has seen how talented mediators are able to bring parties to resolutions she never thought possible, at times even bridging the divide between the parties such that they continue doing business together after resolving the dispute. Tiffany explains that mediators can be creative in the pursuit of settlement, and she often encourages her clients to use mediation early in the arbitration process. International dispute resolution is especially complex, as it often involves cultural nuances that can be critical to the resolution process. This is another area in which mediators can have an advantage, as they may be better trained in these details. Tiffany believes that international mediation will expand soon, and that international mediators will become increasingly specialized.

Working Internationally

Tiffany explains that her favorite part of her work is her clients, whom she is able to hand-select and with whom she enjoys developing deep relationships. Her clients reside all over the world, making for a very “colorful” group of people for Tiffany to work with. Through her network, Tiffany found MBBI, which she feels is a great opportunity to use her talents for something beyond her daily work. Tiffany believes that mediation will continue to be carried out online, especially in international settings.

Article by Tess Hargarten, MBBI Writer