Ignacio Madalena
Biography
Overview
Ignacio Madalena is a Partner with the Firm's International Arbitration Practice in Madrid. He is triple qualified in Spain, England & Wales and New York, and before joining White & Case in Madrid, in 2019, he practiced arbitration in London and Washington D.C.
With over 23 years of experience, Ignacio has represented clients from all over the world in claims under bilateral investment treaties, the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and the investment chapters of free trade agreements, and has appeared before a variety of international tribunals in arbitrations under the rules International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) or the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
Ignacio also acts for clients in commercial arbitrations, having represented clients under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Madrid Court of Arbitration (CAM) and in ad hoc proceedings under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. Ignacio further serves as arbitrator in commercial cases, both as party-appointed and chair.
Ignacio's sectors of experience includes, in particular, electricity and renewable energy, oil & gas, construction & engineering, port concessions and telecommunications.
Clients praise "He has mastered arbitrations, and it gives great peace of mind to know that Ignacio is handling the process (Chambers Europe Guide 2025). As mentioned by Legal 500, 2025 "has proven to be a great arbitration professional. He knows all the details of arbitration processes, he is very meticulous, he has a lot of experience, and all the knowledge. Ignacio is very commercial, he explains the details very well to the client, he is proactive, and he works quickly without leaving any detail overlooked". Clients say "partners like Ignacio are exceptional for their leadership and vision".
Ignacio teaches international investment law and arbitration at Instituto de Empresa (IE) and the Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles in Madrid.
Experience
Some representative examples of Ignacio's most recent experience as counsel includes:
Investment arbitration
- Successfully representing a Japanese investor in an ICSID arbitration against Spain under the Energy Charter Treaty involving investments in the Spanish CSP sector.
- Successfully representing a Spanish telecommunications company in an ICSID arbitration against the Colombia under the Spain-Colombia BIT, in a dispute relating to a concession agreement for mobile telephone services.
- Obtaining a favourable settlement in favour of the respondent, an Eastern European state, in an ICSID arbitration in a dispute arising out of a concession for the operation and management of a port terminal.
- Acting for a Spanish holding company in an ICSID arbitration against Argentina involving price control measures and arbitrary changes to dispatch rules in the power generation sector.
- Acting for Guatemalan and Panamanian investors in multiple treaty claims against the Republic of Honduras, in currently pending ICSID arbitration proceedings under the investment chapters of the DR-CAFTA and the Panama-Central America free trade agreements involving investments in different photovoltaic (PV) projects.
- Successfully representing a sovereign state in proceedings before the Madrid High Court, defending the validity of an award on jurisdiction rendered in an UNCITRAL arbitration under a bilateral investment treaty.
Commercial arbitration
- Leading the team representing a Belgium industrial group as claimant in a post-M&A dispute against a Spanish fund, brought under a Share Purchase Agreement, in a Spanish law and English language arbitration before the Madrid Court of Arbitration.
- Obtaining a favourable settlement in favour of the concessionaire in a dispute with the EPC contractor in an ICC arbitration in Geneva, in a dispute under Slovakian law arising out of road construction project in Bratislava.
- Leading the team representing an infrastructure fund based on London in an ICC arbitration under Spanish law arising from a joint venture dispute over a photovoltaic project in Mexico.
Co-author: ":Arbitraje de inversión y proceso judicial: puntos de fricción y cooperación", in Libro homenaje a Miguel Ángel Fernández-Ballesteros, Club Español e Iberoamericano del Arbitraje (2024).
Co-author: "Spanish Constitutional Court Limits the Scope of Review of Awards in Actions to Set Aside," W&C publication, 15 March 2021.
Co-author: "Managing Contractual Performance in Times of Sanitary Crisis: The Spanish Law Perspective, W&C publication, 14 May 2020.
Co-author: "Función y deberes del árbitro", in Flores Sentíes, H. (ed.), Retos Contemporáneos del Arbitraje Internacional (Tirant Lo Blanch, Mexico City, 2018).
Co-author: "Increased enforcement risk in intra-EU investment treaty arbitration," Legal & Regulatory Risk Note, A&O Publication (May 2018).
Co-author: "Spain" in The International Arbitration Review, 8th ed. (2017).
Author: "Medidas regulatorias y expropiación: tratamiento en la práctica arbitral", Lima Arbitration – Revista del Círculo Peruano de Arbitraje, núm. 7, 2016-2017.
Author: "Concession Agreements and Investment Treaty Claims," GAR's Arbitration Review of the Americas 2018 (2017).
Author: "Trans-Pacific Partnership," GAR's Arbitration Review of the Americas 2017 (2016).
Author: "Ethics in International Arbitration: the Role of the Arbitral Tribunal," International Arbitration Law Review (Dec. 2012).
Co-author, "Human Rights and Investment Treaty Arbitration," A&O Publication (2012).
Co-author, "Dispute Avoidance and Management in Construction and Engineering Projects," in EPC Contracts and Major Projects: A Guide to Construction and Other Project Contracts, Nigel Pritchard and John Scriven (eds.) (2011).
Co-Author, "Advocacy from the Perspective of a Civil Law Arbitrator," in The Art of Advocacy in International Arbitration, 2nd Edition, R. Doak Bishop (Ed.) (2010).
Co-Author, "Parallel Proceedings in International Arbitration," Arbitration International, vol. 24, no. 4 (2008).
Co-Author, "The ICC Dispute Board Rules," International Arbitration Law Review, vol. 8 (2005) "The U.S. Model BIT," International Arbitration Law Review, vol. 7, Issue 3 (June 2004).
Ranked in Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500
