GAR Analysis

• No. of pending cases: 24
• Value of all claims: US$3.5billion
• No. of appearances in Who's Who: 2
• No. of treaty cases: 1
• No. of arbitration appointments (No. as chair or sole): 19(8)

Dechert has a sizeable arbitration platform in Paris, and plans for the same in other cities.

Four partners in Dechert's Paris office focus nearly exclusively on international arbitration: Pierre Mayer, 63, Xavier Nyssen, 46, Philip Dunham, 40, and Eduardo Silva Romero, 37. The leader is Mayer, who has been a prominent member of Paris's arbitration community for nearly three decades. He teaches at the famous Sorbonne University. One of his books, Private International Law , is in its ninth edition. After him, the best known is Silva Romero, who was deputy secretary general to the ICC's Court of International Arbitration from 2001 to 2005. Silva Romero was included in GAR's '45 Under 45' survey.

A few years ago, one would have struggled to find arbitration purists within Dechert. The firm has long had a strong reputation in the US for its trial work. Arbitration, though, was something its litigators did "from time to time" in areas such as pharmaceuticals, IP and antitrust, a source says. Three years ago, the firm's management decided it would be astute to treat arbitration as a discrete skill-set, reasoning that US corporations are poised to start requesting that level of sophistication from their external advisers, and also that few US firms have yet begun to conceptualise arbitration as a separate skill-set in the European-style. So a pure-play arbitration group is seen as giving Dechert a strategic advantage in the US. Pierre Mayer explains: "When you look at the US, there are very few firms that have really dedicated themselves to arbitration at this point, in comparison with the potential size of that market."

Mayer, Nyssen, Dunham and Silva Romero joined at various points over a 12-month stretch between 2005 and 2006. All worked together at Coudert Brothers, which, although no longer in existence, enjoyed a market leading position in Paris's arbitration milieu for many years. (Its alumni include luminaries such as Jan Paulsson, Julian Lew QC, Laurie Craig and Rusty Park.) Anne-Marie Whitesell, the ICC's most immediate former secretary general, is also an alumnus. Initially the new partners were well known among their peers, but Dechert was not. A year on, the Paris office featured in the legal directories and in the all-important second band (just behind Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Shearman & Sterling).

"It's nice to have a chance to focus on just work again, and building our momentum" says Philip Dunham, one of the partners in Paris. He detects a clear "upwards trend" after only one year, reflected in new instructions, positive reviews in directories and rising internal inquiries from other parts of Dechert.

Creating the same sort of team on the East coast of the US is the next step, he says, and also in London. In New York, Dechert has added George Foster, formerly of Coudert Brothers, and David Bigge and Dennis Hranitzky, who were each at Debevoise & Plimpton. All are senior associates or counsel in their late 30s. The arbitration work in New York is led by the partners Dan Malone, who was also once at Debevoise & Plimpton.

The Paris office is working with the New York office to create a brand for the firm in ICDR-related work. Dechert's attorneys, including Dunham and Foster, are now regular speakers at ICDR events. Being regarded as credible under ICDR is important to the long-term strategic goal of cultivating US clients, many of whom have ICDR clauses in their contracts. Another target is Latin America-related work. Silva Romero was a vigorous promoter of international arbitration in the region while he was with the ICC, where he has roots.

Meanwhile, Anne Marie Whitesell has left the ICC. It is no secret that she plans to return to private practice. There would be a certain symmetry if she also opted to join this growing practice.