of Arbitrators, F.C.I.Arb.

The six are Mr. Kelvin Hastings-Smith and fellow AS&K lawyer Mr. Nigel Howcroft, along with Mr. Saul Froomkin and Mr. David Addington from Mello, Hollis, Jones & Martin, Mr. Jan Woloniecki from Milligan-Whyte & Smith, and Ms Keren Lomas.

The six were among 21 who passed out of a class of 38, after three and a half days of intensive examination in Vail, Colorado. Mr. Hastings-Smith said that there are now about a dozen Fellows in Bermuda.

Bermuda is to host the exams next June, with candidates from around the world arriving here to be examined.

While parties to a dispute will have often already decided on an arbitrator before arriving to present a case, prepared Bermuda lawyers may soon get an opportunity to adjudicate matters.

"If we have a lot of those, then we are going to contribute significantly to the gross domestic product of Bermuda. The law firms in Bermuda will be here to assist them as facilitators, and for applications for the Supreme Court.

That's in the short term,'' Mr. Hastings-Smith said.

"But for the long term we hope that Bermuda will be seen as a place where there are decent practitioners who are qualified arbitrators and could be appointed arbitrators themselves.''