International Arbitration

Crowell & Moring's international arbitration lawyers have represented private parties, sovereign governments, and state-owned enterprises in international commercial and investment arbitrations around the globe. The firm's international arbitration practice is a distinct area of specialization within our broader International Dispute Resolution Practice.

Our international arbitration lawyers in our Washington, D.C., New York, California, London and Brussels offices are multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-jurisdictional. We have counseled clients and tried arbitrations in a variety of languages, in a range of industries, and under all major arbitral regimes. Today, we are representing clients in proceedings ranging from a few million to the tens of billions of dollars, and under fee arrangements that make sense for them in light of their business, political or policy objectives, the amounts in controversy and the complexity of their disputes.

International Commercial Arbitration
Our lawyers have handled commercial arbitrations in some of the world's leading arbitration venues, and under all major arbitral regimes, including the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the London Court of Arbitration (LCIA), the American Arbitration Association/International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA/ICDR), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), and numerous ad hoc arbitrations under UNCITRAL and other rules. They are also experienced in drafting sophisticated dispute resolution and arbitration clauses for complex contracts relating to a broad range of industries.

Investor-State Arbitration
We are one of the best known firms in the area of state-investor and treaty-based arbitrations, and have substantial experience in arbitrations at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). As reported recently in Chambers USA, C&M "won plaudits for its strong work in international investment and treaty arbitration." Few firms have handled more investor-state arbitrations than we have, and we have incomparable experience in arbitrations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We are also counseling clients regarding their rights under Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) and numerous other investment protection and promotion treaties including the Energy Charter Treaty. Our state-investor dispute resolution specialists frequently team with the trade and investment policy specialists at C&M International and government relations experts in the firm's Public Policy Group to provide clients with an integrated solution for their dispute avoidance and resolution needs.

Multi-Lingual, Multi-Cultural Trial Lawyers
While our practitioners lecture, teach and write about international arbitration, what distinguishes us from other leading practices and practitioners is our experience and expertise as international arbitration trial lawyers. Our attorneys are able to interview witnesses, review documents, draft pleadings, conduct direct and cross-examination and otherwise work fluently in a variety of languages. Perhaps more importantly, they know what questions to ask, how to ask them, and how to appreciate the nuances contained in a response, irrespective of the country or culture in which we are asked to work. The firm has a dedicated Spanish-language dispute resolution team.

Multi-Jurisdictional, Multi-Dimensional Problem Solvers
Several members of our team are qualified to practice law in various jurisdictions around the world in addition to the United States of America, and are intimately familiar with common, civil and international law principles and their application in an international arbitral setting. Our lawyers are well-schooled in the art of leveraging political power to resolve complex cross-border commercial and investment disputes. They also understand that resolving a client's international disputes cost-efficiently and quickly is not just about arbitrating a dispute aggressively and intelligently. It is about early case evaluation, mediation and other Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), litigation in courts of competent jurisdiction, and lobbying national governments and multilateral organizations.

Industry, Country Expertise
We have handled disputes involving an extraordinary array of industries, including construction, energy, oil and gas, mining and natural resources, defense, government contracts, telecommunications, banking, and financial services. They involve countries as disparate as Angola, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Ecuador, El Salvador, Georgia, Guinea, Guatemala, India, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela, to name but a few.

Peer Recognition
Our lawyers teach international arbitration, speak at conferences worldwide, publish on a range of international arbitration topics, and have been recognized by our peers as among the leading practitioners in the world. For example, a recent peer review described one of our arbitration partners as possessing "superb focus and attention to detail," while another of our arbitration partners was described in the same review as "a thought-leader of the future." The Crowell international arbitration team has also drawn particular acclaim for its "unique case preparation methods, which are the best and most rigorous in the field." The arbitration team "exemplifies teamwork, though it boasts great individuals capable of absorbing a tremendous amount of crucial technical information. The firm is extremely well connected with all the important players in the arbitration field. The team impresses with its excellent attention to detail and relentless follow-up."

Highlights