Steven Finizio > WilmerHale > London, England > Lawyer Profile

WilmerHale
49 Park Lane
LONDON
W1K 1PS
England
Steven Finizio photo

Work Department

Commercial Litigation; International Arbitration; Litigation; Securities Enforcement; Securities Litigation; United Kingdom

Position

Partner

Career

Steven Finizio’s practice focuses on international dispute resolution. Mr. Finizio also serves as an arbitrator. He has particular experience with energy, financial services, shareholder, joint venture and M&A, and manufacturing issues. He has advised clients regarding disputes under the rules of most of the well-recognized international arbitration institutions and governed by the laws of jurisdictions in Europe, Asia, Africa and the US, as well as under bilateral and regional investment treaties. His pro bono work has included assisting a Central European government to draft new arbitration legislation and he was part of a team that won a landmark decision in the first freedom of expression case in the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Issa Loha Konaté v Burkina Faso.

Professional Activities

Mr. Finizio speaks regularly on international arbitration at conferences and seminars. He also teaches classes on arbitration at law schools, including as an Adjunct Professor at SOAS University of London and at Pepperdine University Law School in London. He is a founding member of the International Dispute Resolution Academy (IDRA) and is on the faculty at the Cologne Academy of Arbitration. He also has been on the faculty for the Foundation for International Arbitration Advocacy (FIAA) and the Africa International Legal Awareness (AILA) International Treaty Law and Arbitration Programme.

Mr. Finizio is a member of the LCIA Court and a member of the GIAC Advisory Council. He also is a member of the Global Arbitration Review Editorial Board, the Lexis®PSL Arbitration Consulting Editorial Board, and the arbitration.ru Editorial Board, as well as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA).

He is a member of a number of arbitration and international law institutions and related associations, including the International Bar Association (IBA), Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA), American Society of International Law (ASIL), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). In addition, Mr. Finizio is a Member of the Board of Trustees for the Media Defence Legal Initiative and the Advisory Board of the Institute of Small and Micro States.

Publications

Mr. Finizio publishes extensively on issues relating to international dispute resolution. He is the co-author of “A Practical Guide to International Commercial Arbitration: Assessment, Planning and Strategy,” (Sweet & Maxwell 2010) (second edition forthcoming), and “International Commercial Arbitration,” in The Law of Transnational Business Transactions (Nanda, ed. Thomson Reuters updated 2020). See “Publications” under “Insights & News” for a full list of Mr. Finizio’s publications and articles.

Memberships

California

District of Columbia

England and Wales, Registered Foreign Lawyer

Education

JD, University of Chicago Law School, 1992

AB, Georgetown University, 1988

Lawyer Rankings

London > Dispute resolution > International arbitration

(Hall of Fame)

Steven FinizioWilmerHale

Fielding ‘one of the most experienced teams around for international arbitration’, WilmerHale has an enviable track record in high-stakes disputes, including both commercial and investor-state arbitrations. An ‘outstanding, brilliant litigator’, international arbitration practice chair Gary Born is a renowned commercial arbitration and international litigation specialist. Charlie Caher‘s experience includes numerous institutional and ad hoc arbitrations involving all major arbitral institutions and international arbitration practice vice-chair Franz Schwarz has ‘excellent judgement and strategic sense’. Steven Finizio, who also sits as an arbitrator, has particular experience in energy, financial services, shareholder, joint venture M&A, and manufacturing-related disputes. The practice further showcases triple-qualified English solicitor, Singapore advocate and New York lawyer, Jonathan Lim, who acts in a broad range of commercial and investment treaty arbitration matters. In January 2024, the ‘exceptional’ Marleen Krueger, who divides her time between London and Berlin, was promoted to partner. Krueger focuses on international commercial and investment arbitration matters across a range of sectors and jurisdictions.

London > Dispute resolution > Public international law

With ‘unwavering dedication to providing the utmost in client service’, WilmerHale‘s public international law team routinely acts in matters involving territorial boundaries and territory-related sovereignty issues, including state-to-state, intra-state and investor-state disputes. The practice also covers sovereign immunity, foreign judgment enforcement, and freedom of speech and belief rights, along with treaty accessions, territorial boundaries, maritime delimitation, international criminal law, and human rights. Gary Born is ‘the preeminent expert in international arbitration‘; Steven Finizio is experienced in public international law and investment treaty issues; and Jonathan Lim advises international organisations and governments in Africa and Asia on public international law.