International arbitration

Our success in two arbitration cases brought under International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) rules demonstrates the breadth of expertise we have developed in this area.

The first, in which claims totalling US$9 million for misrepresentation and breach of warranty were completely defeated, came to us through contacts of our North American Practice Group. The client was based in Central America and had developed an international reputation in structuring drugs trials. He was looking to expand his business and had sold 75% to an Indian conglomerate.

The joint venture was not successful and claims were brought to recover the purchase price plus other investments made by the Indian partner. We were instructed to challenge a worldwide freezing order obtained against our client and to fight the resulting international arbitration held in London. The claims were wholly rejected by the sole arbitrator and our client recovered over US$1 million in costs.

In the second case we acted for an Italian construction company facing a claim for US$5 million, brought by a Japanese construction group. The dispute concerned a road project in West Africa funded by Japanese government aid. We were able to persuade the claimant that our clients were not proper parties to the arbitration and all claims were withdrawn.

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