International investment law

Our lawyers have been involved in around 50 decided and pending investment arbitration and associated court proceedings around the world, acting for both State and investor parties.

Our lawyers have won some of the largest arbitral awards in the history of investment arbitration for investor clients, and defeated other substantial claims for State clients.  In recent years, our lawyers have secured three investment treaty awards above US$200 million in unrelated cases, totalling more than $1 billion in damages. We have also reached a substantial (confidential) settlement in another treaty case for an investor client. We are regularly chosen to advise on some of the most complex and novel investor-State disputes, including those involving multiple parties and/or multiple treaties.

We have advised on cases under all of the world’s major institutional arbitration rules (including the ICSID, UNCITRAL, LCIA, PCA, SCC and ICC rules).  We have acted in investor-State disputes involving a wide range of economic sectors and industries, including energy, finance, hospitality, construction, manufacturing, transport and communications.

Highlights of our lawyers’ experience in investor-State disputes include:

  • representing the largest private equity firm in Central and Eastern Europe in an SCC (Stockholm) Rules arbitration arising out of the expropriation of a bank by a national banking regulator, resulting in an award of US$210 million in favour of the client
  • representing a US “Fortune 500” company in an ICSID (World Bank) case arising out of the expropriation of two of the largest glass manufacturing facilities in Latin America, resulting in an award of US$455 million in favour of the client
  • representing one of the world’s leading private companies in an ICSID arbitration arising out of the expropriation of a major petrochemical facility and offtake agreement, resulting in an award of US$408 million in favour of the client
  • representing a Balkan State in an UNCITRAL arbitration brought by an Austrian investor involving issues of expropriation and State succession, resulting in an award in favour of the client defeating all claims
  • representing Eurotunnel in an ad hoc treaty arbitration against France and the United Kingdom in connection with the operation of the Channel Tunnel, resulting in an award in favour of the client against both States
  • representing a Turkish claimant in an ICSID case against a Middle Eastern State about the expropriation of commercial arbitration rights, resulting in a ground-breaking award in favour of the client