GAR Analysis

• No. of pending cases: 14
• Value of all claims: US$3.5billion
• No. of appearances in Who's Who: 2
• No. of treaty cases: 11
• No. of arbitration appointments (No. as chair or sole): 2(0)

Arnold & Porter's arbitration specialists focus on treaty arbitration. Much of its work originates in Latin America. The present portfolio consists of 11 treaty-based arbitrations to three commercial matters. Looking over past work, nine out of 10 recent merits hearings occurred under ICSID rules.

Arnold & Porter is a firm where many attorneys have experience in government and multilateral organisations, so it is no surprise that its arbitration work reflects that milieu. The firm also has a world-leading sovereign debt practice that means many governments are already on its books.

The present portfolio also owes a lot to a Spanish-speaking team that has arrived. Paolo di Rosa, Raul Herrera and Gaela Gehring Flores all joined as partners in mid-2007 from the DC office of Winston & Strawn. Paolo di Rosa is a former US State Department attorney who is also listed in The International Who's Who of Commercial Arbitration. He has become head of the arbitration group. With the new arrivals, Arnold & Porter has 11 arbitration specialists who are native Spanish speakers, and can plead and conduct oral arguments in Spanish. Examples of recent cases that took place largely in Spanish are Sociedad Anónime Eduardo Viera v Republic of Chile and Victor Pey Casado and President Allende Foundation v Republic of Chile. In total, 15 attorneys work on cases from Latin America. "We believe this is the largest Latin America-related arbitration practice in the US, in terms of people who are devoted full-time to the area," says di Rosa.

Di Rosa and colleagues also have a record of success. They have won four of a possible five cases at ICSID to date. "We're proud of having achieved an 80 per cent success rate in a forum where, historically speaking, the respondent states have won only 30 per cent of the time," di Rosa says. Three of those victories were in the past year. In the 'lost' case, a claim for US$300 million was met with an award for US$13 million plus interest.

The new arrivals join well-respected counsel Jean Engelmayer Kalicki and partner David Orta, comprising the firm's arbitration front line. Kalicki was recently included in GAR's 'All-female Top 30', in a feature about the women working in arbitration. She is also listed in The International Who's Who of Commercial Arbitration.

Kalicki was recently chosen by the Republic of Hungary to defend it against two fresh treaty-based claims. Those are in the emerging subspeciality of the Energy Charter Treaty. The cases in question are interesting because they are the first brought against a member of the EU, and as such could represent the beginnings of a second generation of jurisprudential rulings under that treaty. David Orta was a central part of the firm's victory against El Salvador last year in the Inceysa Vallisoletana case.

Paolo di Rosa says that the firm is in recruiting mode - it recently added a partner with relevant skills in New York, Fred Fucci (from Thelen Reid & Priest). At the same time, the group would be more than happy to maintain its position in investor-state arbitration. The requirements of that work fits Arnold & Porter's academic ethos. "We like this work and have been able to do it very profitably, says di Rosa. "If we were only to get these kinds of cases for the next 10 years, I wouldn't be displeased."