England - London • Dispute resolution
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Public international law

Fietta LLP

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Standing out for its ‘strong concentration on investment disputes and public international law matters’, PIL-dedicated firm Fietta LLP routinely assists states with both high-stakes PIL disputes and advisory matters. The team also acts for investor and respondent state clients in investor-state arbitrations and related domestic court and human rights proceedings. The group’s principal practitioners are founding partner Stephen Fietta KC, who is ‘in his element when discussing maritime boundary and sovereignty issues’; Jiries Saadeh, who represents both states and investor clients in international investment treaty claims; and recently-elevated partner Ashique Rahman, an expert in disputes under international investment agreements. At counsel level, Laura Rees-Evans advises on a wide range of PIL issues; while ‘very capable and knowledgable individual’ Oonagh Sands represents sovereign states (and their state-owned entities), individuals and private entities before leading world dispute resolution venues.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘What makes Fietta LLP's dispute resolution practice unique in international arbitration is its vast experience and remarkable knowledge, and its strong concentration on investment disputes and public international law matters.'

  • 'The team's strengths include its vast expertise in this area and excellent quality of legal services that are tailored towards the client's needs.’

  • ‘Stephen Fietta KC can determine strategic approach in complex arbitration cases, and has team leadership skills when the members of the legal team are from various offices or chambers.'

  • ‘Stephen Fietta is in his element when discussing maritime boundary and sovereignty issues. He will always give an objective and reasoned opinion with clarity. He does not and will not tailor the advice to only what the client wants to hear. It is this objectivity and his expertise which are highly valuable.'

  • 'Jiries Saadeh is highly professional in fact-finding processes, whether by analysing facts or determining the key elements of the dispute. He has vast experience in international arbitration involving investment disputes.’

  • ‘Fietta LLP is a very hands-on legal team with extensive experience in public international law, particularly in relation to boundary issues.'

  • 'The service is par excellence in terms of legal opinion writing and strategy. They have proven themselves as an invaluable asset to clients in achieving their targets and objectives.’

  • 'Oonagh Sands is a very capable and knowledgable individual, who stands out as being a very dependable legal focal point when discussing issues related to sovereignty and maritime boundaries.’

Key clients

  • Republic of Croatia
  • PL Holdings
  • The Islamic Republic of Pakistan
  • Elliott Advisors (UK)
  • Silver Point

Work highlights

  • Continuing to advise an Asian state on various public international law questions, which relate to sovereignty, maritime delimitation, navigation, and international environmental law.
  • Representing PL Holdings in proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights concerning the annulment by the Swedish Supreme Court of a BIT award against Poland (on EU law grounds following an intervention by the CJEU).
  • Representing Pakistan in two proceedings against India under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, in relation to the design and construction by India of several dams on the Indus River system.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Stephen Fietta KC
Hall of fameFietta LLP
Stephen Fietta KC founded Fietta LLP in 2015. He has practised at the forefront of public international law, whether within government or private practice, for more than 20 years and is widely recognised as one of the world’s leading public international law practitioners. He regularly advises sovereign clients with respect to high-profile and sensitive public international law issues, including as regards sovereignty disputes, the law of the sea (including maritime boundary delimitation), international environmental law, human rights, treaty interpretation and international investment law. Stephen has advised on cases before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), European Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights and multiple domestic courts. He has appeared in more than 40 pending and decided arbitration cases under the World Bank (ICSID), UNCITRAL and other rules, a number of which have featured ground-breaking awards on jurisdiction, merits and/or damages. Before establishing Fietta in 2015, Stephen co-founded the world’s first specialist public international law firm (Volterra Fietta) in 2011. Prior to that, he was a partner specialising in public international law at a leading US and global law firm. Both of those practices were top-ranked at the time. Stephen regularly manages large teams of lawyers (including specialist or domestic co-counsel), experts and witnesses in multiple jurisdictions. Stephen is a Visiting Senior Lecturer at King’s College, London. In January 2015, Stephen was awarded the Smit-Lowenfield Prize by the International Arbitration Club of New York for the best article published globally in the field of international arbitration, entitled Public International Law, Investment Treaties and Commercial Arbitration: an emerging system of complementarity? Stephen has co-authored (with Dr Robin Cleverly) A Practioners guide to Maritime Delimitation, published in March 2016, which has subsequently been cited before both the ICJ and ITLOS. DIRECTORY RECOGNITION Chambers Global Directory ranks Stephen as one of the world’s top public international law practitioners.  Chambers Global Directory 2023 describes him as “hugely knowledgeable and tactically very astute”.  Chambers UK Directory 2022 ranks him as one of only two “star individuals” in the United Kingdom.  It comments that he “is regularly instructed on complex mandates” describes him as “a first-class international lawyer” with “a remarkably detailed as well as broad knowledge and insight into a wide variety of fields of law”.  A previous edition quoted sources as identifying Stephen as “a world-leading PIL practitioner and an unflappable advocate” who is “meticulous, thorough and thoughtful”. The Legal 500 has consistently ranked Stephen as a “leading individual” in public international law.  He is one of only four lawyers included in its “Hall of Fame” which “highlights individuals who have received consistent praise by their clients for continued excellence”. Legal 500 Directory 2021 identifies Stephen as “a master of his field”, who can “translate the complexity of issues in a simple and direct manner”.  Previous editions have commented that he is "calm, measured and unflappable”, a “simply fantastic practitioner” and that "his professionalism and work ethic are remarkable”. In June 2020, Best Lawyers named Stephen “Lawyer of the Year 2021” in its public international law practice category.  The award is given to a single lawyer in each practice category based upon extensive peer reviews. Who’s Who Legal again recognised Stephen as among the world’s leading arbitration experts in its 2020 edition, classifying him as both a “Global Leader” and a “Thought Leader”. The recognition follows independent research with clients and peers. Stephen was featured in the global Who's Who in Public International Law (published in 2007).  In March 2013, Stephen was named among the top 100 lawyers in London by the inaugural UK edition of Super Lawyers. The Global Arbitration Review 2011 named Stephen as one of the world's leading international arbitration practitioners under the age of 45 (the “45 under 45”).
Leading associates
Rising stars with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Laura Rees-Evans
Fietta LLP
Laura is an English-qualified solicitor and Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Civil Proceedings). Laura’s practice focuses on contentious and non-contentious aspects of public international law (PIL) and international arbitration.  Laura is widely recognised in the leading legal directories for her expertise in these fields.  She has been recognised as a “Rising Star” in PIL in the Legal 500 UK Solicitors annually since 2022.  She has been ranked in Chambers UK since 2023, most recently (2024) as an “up and coming” lawyer in PIL.  She has been included in the (biennial) Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Litigators guide since 2021 for her expertise in PIL.  She is also recommended by Legal 500 UK Solicitors 2024 for international arbitration.  She was included in Who’s Who Legal 2024 as a “Future Leader” in Arbitration (based on recommendations from peers and clients), and selected by peers for inclusion in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in the United KingdomTM in International Arbitration.  Chambers reports that clients describe Laura as “very impressive”, an “outstanding lawyer”, who “has deep expertise in international arbitration and public international law” and provides “high-quality advice”. Laura advises on a wide range of PIL issues, including international investment law; international human rights law; the law of the sea; statehood and sovereignty issues; treaty interpretation; and UN procedure.  She has acted in a number of inter-State proceedings, both before the International Court of Justice and under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and in proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights.  She also acts for claimant investors and respondent States in complex and high-value international investment arbitrations across a range of different industry sectors, and has experience of all the major arbitral rules (ICSID, SCC, UNCITRAL).  Laura also regularly advises on PIL issues before domestic courts (including, in particular, State immunity issues, recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, and set-aside proceedings), and recently advised a client defending set-aside proceedings in which a reference was made to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Laura has delivered numerous training courses to officials of State clients and lectures at academic and other institutions on topics of PIL and international arbitration. Laura is frequently invited to speak at conferences and has authored and co-authored numerous articles on topics of PIL and international arbitration.
Oonagh Sands
Fietta LLP
Oonagh Sands is a dually-qualified English and US lawyer. She is an English-qualified Solicitor and Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Civil Proceedings), as well as an Attorney in New York State and the District of Columbia. The Legal 500 has recognised Oonagh as a “Rising Star” in public international law. She has significant experience representing sovereign States and their State-owned entities, as well as individuals and private entities, before leading world dispute resolution fora. Oonagh has represented clients before the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, as well as investor-State arbitral tribunals constituted under ICSID, ICSID Additional Facility, UNCITRAL, SCC and ICC Rules. Oonagh has also advised sovereign States, State-owned entities, and private entities on the law of sovereign immunity and the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards under English law. She has counselled States on territorial and maritime boundary disputes, the law of State responsibility, treaty interpretation, international environmental law, and the law of the sea. Oonagh has also delivered several training courses to officials of State clients on international law of the sea and public international law more broadly. In addition, Oonagh has represented clients in international commercial arbitration proceedings conducted under ICC, LCIA, SCC and UNCITRAL Rules, as well as multiple domestic proceedings before English and U.S. federal courts. Oonagh has taught aspects of international law of the sea on a Master’s programme at King’s College London and at the International Foundation for the Law of the Sea Summer Academy in Hamburg; she has also guest lectured on investment treaty arbitration at Pepperdine University. In addition, Oonagh sits on the faculty of the London Institute of Space Policy & Law. In May 2020, the American Society of International Law appointed Oonagh to serve on its Program Committee, alongside prominent US academics and international law practitioners. Oonagh has served on ASIL’s Steering Committee for its signature topic, “Beyond National Jurisdiction: Human Activities in the Oceans, Polar Regions, Cyberspace and Outer Space”, following her tenure as elected Co-Chair of the Society’s ‘Space Law Interest Group’. In 2016, Oonagh was recognised by the Irish Times for women’s influence in global public affairs and is a member of Arbitral Women. Prior to joining Fietta, Oonagh worked at major law firms in Washington DC and London. Oonagh has worked for the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs in New York, the European Commission in Brussels, and the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington DC.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Stephen Fietta KC, Jiries Saadeh, Ashique Rahman

Other key lawyers

Laura Rees-Evans, Oonagh Sands

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