International Arbitration
International Arbitration overview
White & Case represents leading corporations, funds and financial institutions, high-net-worth individuals and sovereign states in high-stakes international arbitrations before all major arbitral forums, as well as related court and enforcement proceedings, around the world. We tailor our strategies to the distinct needs of our clients. Our longstanding experience covers the key industries and focused sectors in which our clients operate.
Our offering
Comprehensive practice
Our team handles commercial, construction and investor-state arbitrations, as well as related litigation and enforcement proceedings.
- Our commercial and construction arbitration practice spans a wide range of jurisdictions and governing laws, with experience acting in high-value and complex disputes across a wide variety of industries, and pursuant to all major institutional and ad hoc arbitration rules.
- Our pioneering investment arbitration practice built upon the Firm’s extensive sovereign experience includes more than 135 investor-state arbitrations arising from investment treaties and investment contracts before ICSID or under UNCITRAL or other arbitration rules.
Global reach
- With more than 250 international arbitration practitioners located across our offices worldwide, we offer the most widespread and geographically diverse international arbitration practice in the market. Our team spans leading arbitration centers throughout Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, allowing us to deploy local knowledge and global experience wherever our clients’ disputes arise.
Sector depth
- We have deep experience in sectors that drive cross-border transactional activity or require navigating government influence, including financial services, energy, power, mining & metals, pharmaceuticals, technology, telecommunications, transportation, private capital, construction and manufacturing.
Unique value-add
- Having been at the forefront of the field and shaped it for decades, our team benefits from a unique experience level and brand. We know the arbitrators, we know the experts, and we know the arguments and strategies that win cases. Those strengths, combined with our deep bench strength and the ability to leverage the White & Case global platform to address any issue our clients may face, allow us to provide unique value to our clients.
Complex and consequential matters
- We successfully represented Toshiba in three ICC arbitrations arising out of the attempt by Toshiba's joint venture partner to block the sale of Toshiba's memory chip business valued at US$18 billion. We achieved a decisive procedural win that allowed the sale to close and the disputes to settle.
- We represented the owner 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.
- We secured complete victories for Georgia in parallel ICC and ICSID arbitrations worth more than US$1.5 billion arising from termination of the Anaklia deep water port project, one of Georgia's largest infrastructure ventures. The ICC tribunal dismissed all claims and awarded Georgia US$650,000 in costs, and the ICSID tribunal likewise dismissed all claims by Dutch investor Bob Meijer, awarding Georgia US$6.5 million in fees and costs.
- We secured a comprehensive victory for OMV in its long-running dispute with Gazprom concerning their joint venture in a major Siberian gas field. The case, involving complex Swiss, Russian and English law issues and technical subsurface matters, resulted in OMV prevailing on all principal claims and obtaining an award of €4.4 billion, plus 100 percent of its claimed costs.
- 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.
- We achieved a groundbreaking result for AXA S.A., securing the largest-ever known settlement of an investment treaty dispute with Mexico under the France-Mexico BIT. Following the filing of an ICSID arbitration challenging tax measures, our strategic advocacy led the Mexican Congress to enact legislation cancelling a decade's worth of alleged tax liabilities, an outcome which also allowed AXA to continue its operations in Mexico without disruption.
- We secured a landmark settlement with the Republic of Chile on behalf of WOM, one of Chile's leading mobile telecommunications operators, allowing the company to complete the nationwide deployment of its 5G network and preserve its 30-year 5G concessions. The result capped a complex multi-front process spanning both ICSID investment treaty proceedings under the Chile-Norway BIT and WOM's chapter 11 restructuring, also led by White & Case, demonstrating the Firm's ability to deliver integrated solutions across disputes, restructuring and regulatory challenges.
- We represented Telefónica in an investment treaty arbitration against Colombia concerning the reversion of assets in a high-profile telecoms concession. The tribunal ordered Colombia to pay approximately US$380 million, the largest investment arbitration award ever against Colombia.
- We secured a landmark settlement for Eldorado Brasil Celulose, a leading Brazilian pulp producer, resolving three Portuguese-language ICC arbitrations seated in São Paulo arising from one of the largest M&A transactions in Brazil, a staged share purchase agreement worth approximately R$15 billion (2017 value).
Highlighted Insights
Key contacts
Areas of focus
White & Case has an outstanding group with an excellent track record in high stakes commercial and investor-state arbitrations. The firm provides a global network of offices, with extensive resources in key arbitral centres including Paris, London, New York and Washington, DC.”
Number One International Arbitration Practice globally
Global Arbitration Review 2026 (No.1 seven times since 2015)
Band One:
Arbitration (International) – Global Market Leaders
Chambers Global 2026
Band One:
International Arbitration: The Elite
Chambers USA 2026
Band One:
International Arbitration
Chambers France 2026
Band One:
International Arbitration
Chambers Qatar 2026
Tier 1:
International Arbitration
Legal 500 Latin America 2026
Legal 500 USA 2026
Band One:
Arbitration (International)
Chambers Europe 2026
Most Active in Investment Arbitration
Jus Connect Global Arbitration Report, 2025
