Sophie East joined White & Case as an associate in 2005, based in New York.  Ms. East is a member of the firm's International Arbitration and Commercial Litigation Groups.  Her International Arbitration experience includes an ICC arbitration concerning the construction of a utilities plant in the Caribbean; an ICC arbitration involving the disclosure of a tax liability in the sale of a business; an ICSID arbitration concerning a default on foreign sovereign debt; an ICC arbitration relating to an anomaly suffered in a communications satellite; and an AAA arbitration concerning the liability under an insurance policy for a communications satellite. She is co-editor of the Firm’s International Arbitration Newsletter.

Ms. East’s commercial litigation experience has included the representation of a global financial institution in class and other securities actions relating to the collapse of Enron, and a major Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation into the conduct of a large multinational corporation.  Ms. East has also represented a pro bono client in successfully obtaining asylum in the United States, and has drafted a voting rights manual for a civil rights organization (also pro bono).

Prior to joining White & Case, Ms. East practiced law in New Zealand and London.  She worked for over three years in the Commercial Litigation team at one of New Zealand's leading corporate law firms, where she was involved in the preparation for and court appearances in a variety of types of proceedings including; negligence (commercial), breach of contract, judicial review, breach of privacy, constitutional/electoral issues, environmental litigation and various interlocutory matters.  Ms. East has also worked as in-house counsel at one of the United Kingdom’s largest banks.