Crowell & Moring LLP

International Dispute Resolution

Partner; Co-Chair, International Dispute Resolution Group

When geopolitics leads to disputes, Ian A. Laird’s clients trust him for his extensive experience in international arbitration and under different treaty rules. Ian represents clients who are dealing with sensitive commercial and international disputes around the globe. With a keen eye for political risk, clients rely on him for his ability to respond quickly and efficiently when needs arise.

Ian is co-chair of the firm’s International Dispute Resolution Group. He frequently advises Fortune 500 corporations on geopolitical concerns when their investments face challenges overseas. He has worked extensively with clients involving issues in the energy and natural resources sector — such as power generation, oil and gas, and mining. As a former chief of staff to a Canadian cabinet minister and a senior political aide to the Ontario Minister of Energy, Ian has run political campaigns and understands the intimate workings of government and politics as well as their impact on industry.

Ian represents a range of clients and acts as an arbitrator in international arbitration proceedings, primarily involving disputes between corporations and foreign sovereign governments. For 25 years, Ian has counseled parties in investment arbitrations under the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Canada United States Mexico Agreement, the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, the Energy Charter Treaty, and other international investment agreements, typically applying the arbitration rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and under the major international commercial arbitration rules. He is currently acting as counsel and arbitrator on numerous international arbitrations and disputes, most recently involving the United States, Canada, Egypt, Kuwait, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Turkey.

Ian is a D.C.-licensed Special Legal Consultant based in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.

French

Law Society of Ontario—Called to the Ontario Bar, and enrolled as a Solicitor of the Court of Appeal of Ontario District of Columbia—Licensed to practice as a Special Legal Consultant Ontario Bar Association (OBA)—International Law Section, Past-Chair, Section Executive Committee Canadian Bar Association (CBA)—International Law Section, Past-Co-Chair, Trade and Investment Committee American Bar Association (ABA)—International Law Section, Member Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC)—Arbitration Committee and ICC Canada Roster of Arbitrators Young Canadian Arbitration Practitioners (YCAP)—Founder and former Executive Committee Member International Investment Law Center (International Law Institute, Washington, D.C.) (IILC)—Co-Director of Center ILI Series on International Law, Arbitration and Practice (Juris Publishing)—Co-General Editor American Review of International Arbitration (ARIA), Term 2019 – 2024—Advisory Board Member UNCITRAL, Working Group III—Observer delegate representing the International Law Institute Co-founder and co-chair of World Arbitration Update Co-founder and co-chair of Washington Arbitration Week

McGill University, B.A., joint honors, philosophy and political science, 1987

University of Windsor, Faculty of Law, Windsor, Canada, LL.B., 1993

University of Cambridge, Faculty of Law, Cambridge, U.K. (St. Edmund's College), LL.M., 1998