International Arbitration and Litigation

Overview

“Baker & Hostetler LLP is ‘first rate’, according to one client, ‘the practice works well as part of an international team on cross-border cases.’”

– Legal 500 2018

BakerHostetler, recognized as a Band 1 Highly Regarded International Arbitration firm by Chambers Global, provides international arbitration, litigation and alternative dispute resolution representation for multinational companies, sovereign state governments, international organizations and private investors. We serve as advocates and arbitrators in complex commercial, investor-state and public international law disputes before major international arbitration institutions and courts worldwide. We also act as trial counsel in federal and state courts across the United States, particularly in proceedings to enforce or set aside arbitral awards or in Section 1782 discovery actions related to foreign arbitral and court proceedings.

Several of our partners are world-renowned leaders of the international arbitration bar and are regularly appointed as arbitrators in significant commercial or investment treaty arbitrations.

The team, comprising more than 30 lawyers, regularly represents clients before major arbitration forums, including the ICC, AAA/ICDR, ICSID, LCIA, PCA, DIS, NAI, WIPO, WTO, CPR and UNCITRAL. We currently serve as counsel to clients in proceedings in 28 countries.

As a testament to our global asset recovery practice, BakerHostetler has to date recovered more than $13.355 billion of an estimated $17.5 billion in principal stolen by Bernard Madoff in his infamous decades-long Ponzi scheme. BakerHostetler is court-appointed counsel to the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA) Trustee Irving H. Picard for the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.

Our team has developed a number of regional and industry-specific specialties. We have both arbitrated and litigated throughout Latin America in commercial and investor-state disputes. We defended the Republic of Peru in $10 billion in lawsuits worldwide for defaults on its foreign commercial debt. We have also enforced and blocked enforcement of $70 million and $100 million awards in Argentina and Honduras. We have successfully prosecuted claims against West African companies and nationals, and collected awards in “traditionally unfriendly” jurisdictions. In three recent cases, we collected $14 million, $5 million and $3 million from a Nigerian rig owner, a ship charterer and a ship mortgage holder, respectively. We have arbitrated extensively in the energy, financial and securities, and construction industries.

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As a large national law firm with more than 970 attorneys, we are able to tap into our vast resources to handle a wide variety of international disputes, including the following:

  • Our white collar defense attorneys represent clients in U.S. and state courts in connection with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), assets forfeitures, money laundering, extraditions, and asset tracing. Click here for more information on our FCPA practice.
  • Our antitrust lawyers routinely assist clients around the world in civil, grand jury, and criminal investigations, and multidistrict involving cartels, unfair competition, and other antitrust disputes. Click here for more information on our Antitrust practice.
  • Our tax lawyers are internationally recognized for their experience defending clients in connection with off-shore tax investigations and litigation. Click here for more information on our International Tax practice.
  • Our government relations team routinely helps clients resolve transnational disputes related to public contracts awarded by U.S. and foreign governments. Click here for more information on our Government Contracts practice.
  • Along with a worldwide network of affiliates, our intellectual property attorneys have considerable global experience handling international disputes involving patents, trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, domain names, and cybersquatting. Click here for more information on our Intellectual Property practice

Select Experience

  • Representing Latam Hydro LLC in an $80 million ICSID case against the Republic of Peru for interferences with the investor’s project in the renewable energy sector. The claims include fair and equitable treatment, failure to provide full protection and security, indirect expropriation, and denial of national treatment, among others.
  • Representing a Latin American nation in a bilingual investor-state arbitration at ICSID arising from the agriculture sector.
  • Representing a Latin American nation in Spanish-language commercial PCA arbitration under UNCITRAL rules with claims and counterclaims arising from a dispute in the infrastructure sector.
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Professionals

Name Title Office Email
Associate Costa Mesa
Associate Washington, D.C.
Partner New York
Counsel Washington, D.C.
Partner New York
Partner Washington, D.C.
Partner Houston
Partner Philadelphia
Partner Orlando
Associate Washington, D.C.
Partner New York
Partner Washington, D.C.
Partner New York
Partner Chicago
Partner Washington, D.C.
Partner New York
Associate Houston
Partner Houston
Partner New York
Partner Washington, D.C.
Counsel New York
Partner Costa Mesa
Partner Cleveland
Partner Atlanta
Partner New York
Partner Washington, D.C.
Partner New York
Partner Washington, D.C.
Associate New York
Partner Chicago
Associate Houston
Associate Washington, D.C.
Partner New York
Associate Washington, D.C.

Experience

  • Representing Latam Hydro LLC in an $80 million ICSID case against the Republic of Peru for interferences with the investor’s project in the renewable energy sector. The claims include fair and equitable treatment, failure to provide full protection and security, indirect expropriation, and denial of national treatment, among others.
  • Representing a Latin American nation in a bilingual investor-state arbitration at ICSID arising from the agriculture sector.
  • Representing a Latin American nation in Spanish-language commercial PCA arbitration under UNCITRAL rules with claims and counterclaims arising from a dispute in the infrastructure sector.
  • Representing True Blue Development Limited in a $50 million ICSID dispute against Grenada arising from the improper termination of the funding mechanism used to construct and develop a Kimpton luxury hotel project.
  • Representing a Luxembourg investor that has brought a  €60 million ICSID arbitration against Slovenia for breaches of the Energy Charter Treaty.
  • Successfully represented an oilfield operator and its foreign investors in a AAA arbitration. Our client operates oil and gas fields in California and, pursuant to contract, it is required to give a portion of its net profits to a publicly traded trust. The dispute was a derivative suit brought by the Trust’s shareholders claiming that our client improperly withheld over $100 million in distributions for oilfield operating expenses, causing the Trust to dissolve and their shares to become worthless.
  • Represented the largest paint company in the world, in a complex US $80 million Bermuda Form insurance coverage arbitration against its insurance carrier, which denied coverage under an Employment Practices Liability Insurance policy for costs and liability arising from a class-action litigation case filed against our client alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and privacy laws. The arbitration was seated in Toronto, governed by New York substantive law, and Canadian and UK procedural laws.
  • On behalf of one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, obtained a settlement in excess of $100 million in an arbitration before the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center, relating to the termination of their Master Service Agreement for data centers in Beijing and Shanghai.
  • Defended a global healthcare market built on the blockchain in connection with an ICC arbitration in which our client was sued by an investor in its cryptocurrency app.
  • Representing a Malaysian corporation and its owner in an ICDR arbitration brought by a U.S. company in a dispute over the sale of medical equipment.
  • Defeated service of process under the FSIA for Empresa Siderurgica del Mutun, a Bolivian state mining company, in an $18 million arbitral confirmation proceeding in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia arising from a failed mining project.
  • Representing an U.S. subcontractor in an ICC arbitration brought by a general contractor, hired by the government of Israel to build a water desalinization plant, in a dispute over deficiencies in the water purification equipment.
  • Defeated an ICDR arbitration brought against Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. by a subcontractor for a contract to move US military bases in South Korea.
  • Prosecuted claims of a Malaysian manufacturer of pipeline equipment in an ICDR arbitration against a U.S. energy company for breach of a long-term supply contract involving U.S. governmental regulatory issues as well as technical disputes over manufacturing standards.
  • Represented Resolute Forest Products Inc., one of the world’s largest paper producers, in a $103 million investor-state arbitration claim against Canada under Chapter 11 of NAFTA alleging Canada unfairly propped up a competing paper mill.
  • Represented Westmoreland Mining Holdings, a US coal producer, in a NAFTA Chapter 11 arbitration against the Government of Canada seeking compensation relating to the Albertan Government’s phase-out of coal-fired electricity emissions by 2030. This case is another matter that had public policy implications. 

Recognition

  • Chambers Global

    • International Arbitration: Highly Regarded, Band 1 (2022)

  • Chambers USA
    • International Arbitration: Highly Regarded, Band 1 (2021 to 2022)
    • International Arbitration: Enforcement, Spotlight Table (2021 to 2022)
  • Latinvex Top International Law Firms in Latin America (2017 to 2022)
  • Latinvex Top Law Firms: Arbitration (2019 to 2022)
  • Latinvex Top Law Firms: Litigation (2022)
  • The Legal 500 United States
    • Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration (2017 to 2021)
    • Dispute Resolution: International Litigation (2017 to 2021)
  • U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms”
    • International Arbitration – Commercial – National (2012 to 2020); Washington, D.C. (2012 to 2020)
    • International Arbitration – Governmental – National (2012 to 2020); Washington, D.C. (2012 to 2020)
  • Recognized as one of the top law firms for client service, BakerHostetler was named to the 2020 BTI Client Service 30 for the sixth consecutive year.

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