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Mark A. Cymrot

Mark Cymrot focuses his practice on international and commercial litigation and arbitration. He is a member of the ICDR Panel of Arbitrators, the international branch of the American Arbitration Association and a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Mr. Cymrot tried and won a $197 million jury verdict against Nelson Bunker Hunt and others for an international conspiracy among major brokerage houses, a Swiss bank and individual investors to manipulate silver prices. He defended the Republic of Peru in $10 billion in lawsuits in five countries brought by major international banks seeking repayment of sovereign debt and obtained several unprecedented decisions regarding restructuring sovereign loans.

His honors include Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, AV rated Martindale Hubbell, Best Attorneys in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Cymrot’s cases have involved a wide variety of commercial and financial matters, including fraud, securities, corporate investigations, antitrust, RICO, banking, real estate and a multitude of other issues.

• Defeated $37 million fraud and breach of fiduciary duty claims by Brunei’s sovereign wealth fund and Brunien prince 
• Defended the Fulton Fish Market Cooperative in a lawsuit seeking to halt the market’s historic move from Manhattan to the Bronx
• Defended the Republic of Peru, High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, IMF and World Bank in lawsuits raising sovereign and international organizations immunities issues
• Recovered more than $11 million from a major U.S. bank that allegedly abetted an embezzlement and $11 million from a major telecommunications company on a fraud claim
• Represented a French bank and others in RICO lawsuits
• Defended the Australian architect of the INTELSAT building against claims of design flaws

Mr. Cymrot has extensive experience in international discovery issues and has successfully traced and recovered funds stolen from foreign individuals, companies and countries.

As an arbitrator and counsel in arbitrations, his matters include:

• As an arbitrator, decided, for instance, contract disputes between a Japanese company and a Latin government, British and American defense contractors, Belgium and Virginia joint venture partners
• As counsel, arbitrated, for instance, franchise disputes against a major payment card issuer, shipping dispute for cargo transported between Russia and China, a securities dispute for a market maker against a brokerage firm, a London reinsurance dispute arising from a plane crash
• Represented Republic of Peru in an ICSID arbitration arising from a claim of denial of justice and a Canadian lumber company in a NAFTA claim against the United States arising from a allegedly discriminatory trade restrictions
• Litigated proceedings challenging arbitration clauses, appealing from arbitral awards and challenging the composition of an arbitral tribunal 
• Arbitrated before or used the rules of numerous arbitral fora, including the ICSID, ICC, LCIA, CIETAC, NASD and ad hoc arbitrations under UNCITRAL rules

Mr. Cymrot has represented newspapers and TV stations in First Amendment actions. He represented Puerto Rico’s largest newspaper in a civil rights lawsuit against the Governor for attempting to suppress free speech and obtained summary judgment in an antitrust suit alleging the newspaper was monopolizing the printing market. His client was awarded summary judgment on libel claims arising from the book, Rock Hudson: Friend of Mine. He successfully defended major newspapers accused of libel by Vanna White’s husband and by a Chicago mayoral candidate.

He has published numerous articles on litigation and arbitration issues, including “Squeezing Silver,” Litigation, Journal of the ABA Litigation Section (Summer 1991); “What Peru’s Brady Deal Means to Rogue Traders,” Latin Finance (Sept. 1997); “Managing For Uncertainties In Central Bank Immunities,” International Monetary Fund Seminar (May 2000); “Barricades at the IMF,” The International Lawyer, Vol. 36, No. 4 (Winter 2002); “Expansion Of International Investment Claims Through The Use Of Most Favored Nation Clauses,” International Chamber of Commerce Annual Report (2003); “Protecting Investors: Can Government Stop The Music?” The Canadian-American Business Council and Center for Strategic and International Studies Program entitled “Investment and Trade Disputes: Government Apprehension and Institutional Failure” (June 6, 2004); “Investor-State Arbitration: Another Arrow In The Quiver,” Baker Hostetler International Team Newsletter, Vol. II, Issue 1 (Dec. 2004); “Welcome To The Jury System: Supreme Court Limits Sovereign Immunity For State Owned Companies,” Business Law International (Sept. 2005); “Investment Disputes with China,” Disputes Resolution Journal (August-October 2006); and “Cross-Examination in International Arbitration,” Disputes Resolution Journal (February-March 2007).

A frequent speaker on litigation, arbitration and sovereign debt issues, Mr. Cymrot has spoken at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank and American and International Bar Association conventions.

Mr. Cymrot has extensive experience with the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and International Organizations Immunities Act. He was a member of the five-lawyer American Bar Association Working Group that prepared “Recommendations and Report on the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act,” a comprehensive appraisal of the statute that provides the sole basis for jurisdiction in U.S. courts for lawsuits against governments and state-owned companies. The Working Group’s recommended amendments to FSIA were adopted by the ABA in August 2002.

As Special Litigation Counsel in the Justice Department, Mr. Cymrot litigated major commercial lawsuits for the U.S. Government. His work resulted in a $17 million recovery from a major steel company and $11 million from a major photography equipment company for violations of the False Claims Act. He successfully defended the five bank regulatory agencies from a $330 million claim arising from the nation’s then largest bank failure, and he defended claims that arose when an organized crime task force informant misappropriated a $1.75 million certificate of deposit.