International arbitration risks losing public trust as lawyers and arbitrators increasingly rely on self-promotion rather than ability, arbitrator and King’s Counsel Toby Landau said during his address at the ongoing London International Disputes Week (LIDW) 2026 on Monday.
Speaking on the topic Tradition, Trust & Transformation, Landau argued that the greatest threat facing the global dispute resolution system is the erosion of professional standards caused by aggressive marketing, social media visibility and legal rankings.
Landau said that the future of international arbitration depends on the quality of professionals responsible for running the system. He lamented that we have entered an era of self-promotion, adding,
“This is a shift from “Ability” to “Visibility”, where sub-standard practitioners are able to sustain themselves in the market, and where the traditional mechanisms of self-regulation are now no longer as effective as they once were.”
As a result, he said, sub-standard practitioners maintain prominent market positions through sustained public exposure rather than proven excellence.
Flagging the trend of professional self-branding on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Landau criticised what he described as a culture of constant “impression management,” where practitioners publicly advertise speaking engagements, awards, case involvement and rankings in ways that are difficult to independently verify.
He argued that international arbitration is especially vulnerable because confidentiality rules often prevent scrutiny of claims made by lawyers and arbitrators about their work.
“People infer quality from others’ reactions, even if the underlying information is weak,” he said.
Landau’s address also touched upon the historical evolution of regulations curbing lawyer advertising. He noted that throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, legal systems in common law jurisdictions imposed strict prohibitions on advertising and client solicitation. According to Landau, these restrictions were gradually dismantled, particularly following the landmark 1977 United States Supreme Court decision in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, which recognised lawyer advertising as protected commercial speech.
The relaxation of advertising rules, he said, was driven by arguments relating to consumer choice, competition policy and access to justice.
“What was not contemplated was the emergence of sophisticated machinery allowing lawyers to actively curate and manufacture reputation on a global scale,” he highlighted.
A significant portion of the address focused on legal directories and rankings, which Landau said was increasingly shaping professional reputations despite lacking objective or transparent metrics. He argued that directories frequently rely on law firm submissions, selected client interviews and peer commentary.
“Rankings may not merely describe the market; they may actively shape it,” he observed.
Landau questioned whether legal excellence can meaningfully be quantified in fields such as international arbitration, where outcomes are often confidential and professional performance is inherently subjective.
“How do you compare a brilliant but slow arbitrator with a fast but conservative one?” he asked.
He also raised concerns about the commercial structures that form the basis of ranking organisations, pointing to paid profile enhancements, sponsorships, conferences and advertising packages that enable practitioners to purchase greater visibility. According to Landau, law firms now devote substantial resources to rankings strategies, including specialised directory teams and consultants focused on improving placements in global legal guides.
The cumulative effect, he argued, is the gradual distortion of market information and a weakening of professional self-regulation.
International arbitration, Landau noted, has historically relied on a high degree of autonomy and self-policing, with practitioners maintaining ethical standards through strong professional norms and close-knit networks. However, as the field expands globally and becomes increasingly commercialised, those traditional informal safeguards are weakening, he said.
“The moment we fail in this task, external agencies will intervene.”
He called for the profession to “wake up” to the dangers posed by unchecked self-promotion and urged stricter standards governing social media activity, legal rankings and professional marketing. Despite acknowledging the benefits of technological and procedural innovation, Landau concluded that no reform would preserve confidence in international arbitration unless the profession maintained the quality and integrity of those operating within it.