Volterra Fietta

Volterra Fietta is an elite global law firm.  The firm is the only law firm in the world that is specialised solely in public international law.

The firm is routinely hired by the world’s States, largest multinational companies and international organisations to advise them on their most important legal matters.

Volterra Fietta has the largest team of dedicated public international law lawyers in the world.  The firm’s lawyers are world leaders in their field.  Each Volterra Fietta lawyer has at least one degree in public international law.  They all have significant practical experience that clients find invaluable.  The firm’s senior lawyers are globally recognised as thought-leaders and the firm practices, teaches and writes at the highest level.

Based on its unequalled track record of success, leading global legal directories routinely rank Volterra Fietta in the top tier of this legal field.

The firm has one of the world’s largest and most active investor-State arbitration practices.  The firm’s lawyers have successfully brought cases for investors for tens of billions of dollars – and in equal measure have successfully defended States from claims for billions of dollars as well.  The firm has defended its State clients from over US$11 billion in claims.  The firm’s track record obtaining of billions of dollars in compensation for investors is similarly impressive.

The firm also has one of the world’s most active practices in State-to-State disputes.  It is regularly counsel to States before the International Court of Justice.  It also serves as counsel in cases before other international courts and tribunals, such as those constituted under the aegis of the PCA and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The firm also represents States and private entities on the application of public international law by the domestic courts of the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions.  This includes cases involving the law of sovereign or State immunity.

Other prominent areas of the firm’s practice include: bilateral and multilateral investment treaties; land and maritime territorial and boundary disputes; the law of treaties and treaty interpretation; property rights and expropriation; the Energy Charter Treaty; oil concessions; air and water rights; treaty negotiations and accession; State responsibility; choice of law, jurisdiction and enforcement proceedings; international maritime law; sovereign and diplomatic privilege and immunity; project-specific international agreements between host States; offshore oil and gas (and other resources); straddling resources; trans-boundary pipelines; international human rights law (including its relevance to transnational business enterprises and transnational litigation); State succession issues; international environmental law; sovereign debt; energy, mining and infrastructure projects; international trade law; foreign corrupt practices; the laws of war and economic sanctions.

Much of the firm’s work remains highly confidential.  However, recent engagements include:

• • Serving as global legal counsel and legal spokesperson to Malaysia in its defence against a fraudulently obtained US$15bn arbitration award (the so-called Sulu arbitration fraud);
  • Filing a multibillion-dollar investor-State arbitration in a dispute involving a nuclear energy company;
  • Representing Barbados as paid counsel in the climate change advisory proceedings before the International Court of Justice;
  • Successfully presenting the winning arguments to the International Court of Justice in a maritime delimitation dispute on behalf of the Republic of Kenya;
  • Representing the United Arab Emirates and the Democratic Republic of Congo in two other proceedings before the International Court of Justice;
  • Representing mining investors in an expropriation claim against the French Republic, which has been publicly reported to include claims of over EUR9bn;
  • Acting as counsel to the Kingdom of Bahrain in a sovereign immunities claim in the English High Court; and
  • Defending the Arab Republic of Egypt in a politically sensitive claim for US$150m brought by Al Jazeera Media Network.