Baker Botts L.L.P.

Litigation / International Disputes

Special Counsel

María Carolina Durán focuses her practice on international dispute settlement, particularly investment treaty arbitration and international commercial arbitration. Trained both in civil and common law, she has extensive experience representing cross-border investors and States in complex and high-profile disputes relating to investments in multiple economic sectors, including electricity, mining, oil and gas, real estate, and infrastructure development.

Ms. Durán has successfully represented clients in arbitral proceedings conducted in English and Spanish under the ICC, ICSID, ICSID Additional Facility, and UNCITRAL rules. Notable successes include representing clients in various investor-state arbitrations with a total of US $59 billion in claims.

She is also a frequent speaker in international arbitration forums.

Before joining Baker Botts, María Carolina worked for more than a decade in the international arbitration practice of another global firm and in a leading law firm in Colombia. In Colombia, María Carolina advised private entities from different economic sectors, including the mining and hydrocarbons sectors, in the structuring and execution of investment projects in Colombia, and advised clients in administrative processes and administrative litigation.

María Carolina also worked as a consultant at the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group, focusing her work on the analysis of public policies related to the foreign investment climate in the Latin American and MENA regions. María Carolina also worked at the Foreign Investment Department of ProColombia, an entity attached to the Colombian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism.

María Carolina is a native Spanish speaker, is fluent in English and speaks French.

María Carolina is Co-founder of Georgetown International Arbitration Alumni group.

District of Columbia Bar

New York State Bar

Republic of Colombia Bar

LL.M., Georgetown University Law Center 2012

J.D., Universidad de los Andes 2009