Arnold & Porter

Arnold & Porter is a giant of investor-state arbitration in Latin America, frequently representing sovereign states in the region in large-scale and high-value arbitration proceedings. Clients include the Republics of Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Chile, along with the Dominican Republic. It has a genuinely remarkable track record of winning on behalf of states, with 52 positive results out of 53 final and potentially final awards and decisions. Along with its strong connections to sovereign states, the firm has a first-class reputation for international arbitration worldwide, including specialists in Washington DC, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and London. It further benefits from the presence of former government officials, a range of practitioners that cover both common and civil law systems, and a multitude of native or fluent Spanish speakers. Key partners in the team include outstanding Washington DC partner Paolo Di Rosa who founded the international arbitration practice and led it for 17 years; he continues to have a primary focus on Latin America, Europe and Asia, is a native Spanish speaker and maintains strong connections to a range of Latin American sovereign states. London based Patricio Grané Labat has a major emphasis on representing Latin American sovereigns and has a tremendous record in the region, including cases under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and bilateral investment treaties; he and Di Rosa frequently work alongside each other on behalf of number of Latin American states. New York’s Mélida Hodgson is a prominent figure in investor-state and commercial arbitrations, having represented Venezuela, Panama and Peru in disputes including UNCITRAL treaty arbitrations and ICSID cases. London partner Alvaro Nistal specialises in investor-state and public international law cases involving Latin America. Mallory Silberman left the firm in April 2023.