International Arbitration
International Arbitration overview
When the stakes are high in international arbitration, leading corporations, financial institutions, investors, and sovereign states turn to White & Case. And for good reason. We zealously advocate for our clients and are recognized for our ability to win the tough cases.
The depth of our experience and expertise in both commercial and investor-State arbitration is second to none. We represent parties in every major arbitral forum. We work around the world, in multiple jurisdictions and in multiple languages. With one of the largest dedicated International Arbitration practices globally, we customize our teams to meet our clients' needs.
We have expertise in numerous industries and specialized sectors including financial services, energy, power, mining & metals, pharmaceuticals, technology, telecommunications, transportation, construction, retail, and manufacturing.
Our practice is recognized as preeminent; a recent market review named 51 of our international arbitration lawyers as global market leaders, more than any other law firm. Year after year, the legal directories, including Chambers Global, The Legal 500 and Global Arbitration Review, place our practice at the top.
International Arbitration experience
Memory chip dispute
We successfully represented Toshiba, as a respondent, in three ICC arbitrations regarding the sale of its US$18 billion memory chip business. The dispute focused on whether Toshiba's joint venture partner, SanDisk, could block the US$18 billion sale proposal from Toshiba's coveted memory chip business to a consortium led by Bain Capital.
Telecommunications dispute
We secured a victory obtaining a US$650 million ICC award for a Portuguese telecommunications company in a shareholder dispute in Africa.
Gold mining dispute
We secured a US$740 million ICSID award for Canadian gold mining company Gold Reserve in an ICSID arbitration against Venezuela relating to one of the world’s largest undeveloped gold/copper deposits.
Bondholder dispute
We represented tens of thousands of Italian holders of Argentine bonds in a US$2.4 billion dispute before ICSID and successfully negotiated an historic settlement, whereby Argentina agreed to pay 150 percent of the principal value of the affected bonds.
Nuclear power dispute
We represented the purchaser in multibillion-dollar arbitrations relating to the design and construction of a nuclear power plant, and successfully negotiated an agreement that ended the arbitration while retaining the main principles of the plant contract.
Major infrastructure - construction dispute
We represent the contractors in a multibillion-dollar dispute comprising several ICC and ICSID arbitrations with the Panama Canal Authority relating to the US$5.5 billion Panama Canal expansion project.
LNG project dispute
We represent INPEX in disputes involving ICC arbitration regarding the pricing of works for an onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing facility that is part of a mega LNG project developed by INPEX. The project has an estimated value of more than US$40 billion and is one of the biggest and most significant natural gas projects on the planet.
Pharmaceutical licensing dispute
We obtained a victory for a US biotechnology company that had developed a revolutionary device for the long-term treatment of a chronic disease, in an ICC arbitration against a major European pharmaceutical company arising out of disputes over a licensing and know-how agreement.
Post-M&A dispute
We obtained an award of more than €100 million for our client in an ICC arbitration relating to a clawback agreement in a post-M&A dispute involving the telecommunications sector.
Real estate development dispute
We represented a real estate developer in an investor-State arbitration of a dispute regarding commercial real estate development and related development agreements.
