The international arbitration specialists to know at this firm are Tim Taylor, Per Runeland, David  Goldberg, Carl Nisser and Justin Michaelson. Runeland and Nisser are from Sweden and Goldberg is Russian. Six of 15 lawyers attached to the group speak Russian fluently, making the team of particular value on matters with a Russian or East-West element. Goldberg in particular is regarded as a unique entity: having spent the large part of his professional life working in City law firms. He's now frequently chosen as arbitrator by leading Russian companies. The Russian side in the recent AAR-TNK-BP dispute retained SJ Berwin's arbitration team.

Other niche areas of specialisation are: the application of arbitration to private investment funds and public international law (Tim Taylor).

Taylor recently combined his experience of working on disputes from Africa and his interest in international law to found International Lawyers for Africa: an organisation that seeks to help Africa by educating local lawyers on everything from debt relief to environmental treaties. The organisation lawyers provides placements at City law firms for African lawyers.

Taylor is not solely focused on Africa. He has also reported to us a membership of Kyrgyz Arbitration Group.

The team prides itself on doing its own advocacy, which is part of a wider SJ Berwin tradition. The four individuals named at the outset now work nearly exclusively on international arbitration, although the group sits physically near the litigation department. Collectively they completed a significant number of cases over the past two years. You'll therefore find SJ Berwin solidly in the GAR 30.