Biography

Educational/ Current position / Professional Experience

• Bar admissions: New York (2007), Ontario (Canada) (2011), Paris (2017)
• McGill University, Faculty of Law, BCL/LLB, Hons., great distinction, 2001-2005
• Concordia University, BA Specialization in Communications and Journalism, with distinction, 1998-2001

Professional memberships:

• Member of the List of arbitrators of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC);
• Member of the Panel of arbitrators of the Tashkent International Arbitration Center (TIAC);
• Member of Canada’s roster of panelists for Chapter 19 of NAFTA (trade disputes), an appointment continued under the United States
• Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA);
• Member of the Panel of arbitrators of CEPANI, the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation;
• Member of list of recommended arbitrators of the Vilnius Court of Commercial Arbitration (VCCA);
• Board member of the Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL);
• Member of the ICC Canada arbitration committee;
• Member of the International Law Association (ILA) – France branch.

Arbitration Experience

Experience as arbitrator

• Panelist in NAFTA Chapter 19 trade case concerning the Canada-US softwood lumber tariff dispute under the Canada-US-Mexico agreement (NAFTA Case USA-CDA-2017-1904-03);
• Presiding arbitrator in an ICC arbitration concerning a post-M&A dispute following the sale of a life sciences company in an EU member state involving issues of tax liabilities, with English law as the applicable law to the contract and Geneva as the seat of arbitration (ICC Case 26723/PAR/FJT);
• Sole arbitrator in an ICC arbitration concerning a dispute over financing commitments of limited partners of an international investment fund, in the context of an insolvency, where the applicable law to the contract was the law of the Cayman Islands and where the seat of arbitration was London (ICC Case 25652/AZR/SPN);
• Sole arbitrator in an ICC arbitration concerning a dispute between a French and US company over financing commitments where French law was the applicable law and the seat was Paris (ICC Case 24213/GR).

Experience as counsel

Select Investment Treaty Arbitration Experience as Counsel

• Lead counsel to Alain Goetz and Aldabra Ltd in ICSID claim against Rwanda under the Belgium-Luxembourg-Rwanda BIT and UAE-Rwanda BIT, regarding a USD 50 million claim for the expropriation of a gold refinery in Rwanda (ongoing);
• Lead counsel to Romania in the defense of two UNCITRAL claims under the Canada-Romania BIT and US-Romania BIT concerning a request for compensation and restitution of film production studios allegedly expropriated in 1948;
• In Edward Sukyas v. Romania under the Canada-Romania BIT, the USD 1 billion claim was dismissed on jurisdiction with full costs awarded to Romania;
• In Jak Sukyas v. Romania, under the US-Romania BIT, jurisdictional objections were joined to the merits in respect of this USD 1 billion claim (ongoing);
• Lead counsel to a Latvian fishery company, SIA North Star and Mr. Peteris Pildegovics, in an ICSID claim for EUR 450 million against the Kingdom of Norway, under the Latvia-Norway BIT, concerning Norway’s actions spoliating an investment in the snow crab fishing and transformation sector operating on the basis of EU fishing licences (ICSID annulment proceedings ongoing);
• Lead counsel to a Lithuanian fishery company, UAB Arctic fishing, in an ICSID claim against the Kingdom of Norway, under the Lithuania-Norway BIT, concerning Norway’s actions spoliating an investment in the snow crab fishing sector operating on the basis of EU fishing licences;
• Lead counsel to a Latvian fishery company, SIA Baltjura-Serviss, in an ICSID claim against the Kingdom of Norway, under the Lithuania-Norway BIT, concerning Norway’s actions spoliating an investment in the snow crab fishing sector operating on the basis of EU fishing licences;
• Lead counsel to Baltic state companies in a dispute with Norway, in respect of the judicial treatment of a real estate investment before Norwegian courts, under investment treaties;
• Lead counsel to the government of Latvia in an ICSID arbitration under the UK-Latvia BIT relating to the withdrawal of a banking license of an institution jointly regulated by the ECB and Latvia’s Financial and Capital Market Commission (2019-2021);
• Lead counsel to Systra, a French state-owned transportation consulting company in a mediation under the IBA investor-state mediation rules with the Republic of the Philippines under the France-Philippines bilateral investment treaty;
• Co-lead counsel to the government of Taiwan in its first investment treaty arbitration brought by a Singaporean investor in the banking sector;
• Counsel to the government of Latvia in the successful defense in an UNCITRAL arbitration under the Switzerland-Latvia BIT relating to the dissolution of a Latvian bank;
• Counsel to the government of Latvia in an UNCITRAL arbitration under the Latvia-Estonia BIT relating to a dispute in the renewable energy sector and relating to a Latvian bank’s insolvency
• Counsel to the Republic of Kenya in an ICSID arbitration relating to a geothermal concession;
• Counsel to the government of Canada in six NAFTA investment disputes under the UNCITRAL and ICSID(AF) arbitration rules:
  • St. Marys VCNA, LLC v Canada (UNCITRAL): successful defense of $275 million claim, regarding a quarry project, withdrawn prior to the submission of Canada’s Memorial with admission by claimant that “it lacks and has always lacked standing to bring this claim”;
  • Melvin Howard and Centurion Health Corp v Canada (UNCITRAL): successful defense of $160 million claim, regarding planned healthcare facilities, in which Canada was awarded costs in the tribunal’s termination order;
  • Vito G Gallo v Canada (UNCITRAL): successful defense of $355 million claim, regarding a failed waste management project, in which the tribunal rejected the claim for lack of jurisdiction;
  • AbitibiBowater v Canada (UNCITRAL): settlement of $500 million claim regarding alleged expropriation of assets in the pulp and paper sector;
  • William J Greiner v Canada (UNCITRAL): withdrawal of $8 million claim regarding an outfitter’s license;
  • Mercer v Canada (ICSID (AF)): successful defense of a $250 million claim regarding power generation and sale;
  • Mobil Investments & Murphy Oil v Canada (ICSID (AF)): $60 million claim regarding R&D requirement applicable to oil & gas operators in the Newfoundland offshore and its compatibility with NAFTA’s performance requirements obligations and Canada’s reservation to such obligation;
  • Lone Pine v Canada (UNCITRAL): $250 million claim regarding alleged expropriation of shale gas interests

Select Commercial Arbitration Experience as Counsel

• Lead counsel representing two individuals in a complex ICC contract and fraud arbitration claim, seated in Brussels, relating to the failed establishment of a bank in Equatorial Guinea, against several defendants, subject to Cameroonian law, where EUR 5 million in compensation and costs was recognized and awarded in a jurisdictional and final award;
• Lead counsel representing Baltic companies against a large multinational company in a post-M&A dispute in the insurance sector under the SCC arbitration rules and seated in Stockholm;
• Co-lead counsel representing an international mining company in an OHADA arbitration, seated in Abidjan, subject to the law of the Democratic Republic of Congo relating to the termination of a services contract;
• Counsel representing a French television and web content developer regarding projects in Canada, in a dispute with a former partner, in an arbitration seated in Montréal and subject to Québec law;
• Counsel representing a Russian company in three consolidated SCC arbitrations concerning a dispute arising from the construction of a power plant where the dispute was successfully settled;
• Counsel representing an Estonian company in an ICC arbitration concerning the sale of a wind turbine;
• Counsel representing a Geneva-based international organization in an UNCITRAL arbitration under the UNIDROIT principles in respect of a dispute under a grant agreement.

Select Arbitration Cases Before Domestic Courts

• Lead counsel in France in the enforcing a EUR 70 million arbitral award, rendered by an ad hoc tribunal seated in Moscow, before various French courts on behalf of Mr. Axel Hartmann, a German national, against the German Eckes Granini group of companies, including before the Paris Court of Appeal on the appeal of the exequatur and on enforcement issues before the Tribunal Judiciaire de Paris, Mâcon, Nanterre and Fort de France, as well as before the Paris, Versailles, Dijon and Fort de France Court of Appeal;
• Lead counsel in the enforcement in France, before the Lyon Execution Judge and the Paris Court of Appeal regarding a set aside application, of an award made in favour of a French television and web content developer regarding projects in Canada, in a dispute with a former partner;
• Lead counsel in set aside proceedings of an ICC award before the Paris Court of Appeal on behalf of the European subsidiary of a North American oil and gas company regarding a dispute with its partner on the development of an oil field in Romania;
• Lead counsel in the successful enforcement in France of an award from the Romanian arbitration institute on behalf of a Ukrainian company against a former business partner;
• Lead counsel to physical persons, in relation to an ICC arbitration:
  • before the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance and Paris Court of Appeal, in proceedings concerning successful provisional attachments and, later, successful enforcement, of several million euros;
  • before the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance and Paris Court of Appeal in several proceedings successfully confirming a jurisdictional award and obtaining its provisional enforcement;
  • before the Tribunal of First Instance of Brussels, the seat of arbitration, in successfully obtaining the provisional application of a contested award;
  • before the First Instance francophone Tribunal of Brussels in three related set aside applications;
• Advising a Latvian bank regarding set aside proceedings of an SCC award in a post-M&A dispute where Stockholm was the seat of arbitration;
• Counsel to the Attorney General of Canada in the Mexico v Cargill set aside proceedings of NAFTA Chapter 11 award before the Ontario courts (place of arbitration) and Supreme Court of Canada;
• Counsel to the Attorney General of Canada in litigation brought by the Hupacasath nation before the Federal Court of Canada concerning the constitutionality of the Canada-China BIT.

Cases at the International Court of Justice

• Representing the government of Cameroon as lead external counsel in the advisory proceedings at the International Court of Justice on the obligations of states in respect of climate change (oral argument conducted before the ICJ in December 2024);

Other Select Public International Law and Foreign Investment Law Experience

• Representing the government of Canada in investment treaty negotiations and free trade agreement negotiations, including with Bahrain, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Costa Rica, the European Union, Guinea, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia;
• Advising the government of the Comoros on the revision of its Investment Code following stakeholder consultations, on a project funded by the International Trade Center;
• Advising the government of Zimbabwe regarding the admission of foreign investment under its free economic zones legislation, on a project funded by the International Trade Center;
• Advising an international oil company on maritime boundary issues and unitization agreements;
• Advising a national oil company on land delimitation issues between two middle eastern countries.

Select International Trade Law Experience

• Advising the government of Canada on international obligations regarding transboundary services and financial services, including in free trade agreement negotiations.

Publications

• Participant, Chapter entitled “Contentieux stratégiques et crimes de masse” [Strategic Litigation and Mass Crimes], in “Droit international et violences sexuelles dans les conflits armés » [International Law and Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts], Bérangère Taxil, Isabelle Fouchard et Coralie Kipfel, dir., LGDJ, 2024.
• “Uber v. Heller and Access to Justice in Arbitrations: The Supreme Court of Canada holds invalid as unconscionable the international arbitration clause in a contract between Uber and its UberEats driver”, Revista Brasiliera de Arbitragem Vol. 18 (2021), Issue 70, 177-207
• Book Review of Performance Requirement Prohibitions in International Investment Law by Alexandre Genest, Canadian Yearbook of International Law (2019) 57 Canadian Yearbook of International Law 1-13. [in French]
• “BITs between Canada and OHADA States: a New Generation of BITs”, Proceedings of the Colloquium for the 20th anniversary of the OHADA Treaty, Yaoundé, 31 Oct.-1 Nov. 2013, Puppa, 2017. [in French]
• “Reservations, Sustainable Development and Canada’s Model Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA)”, in Investment Law within International Law, Freya Baetens, ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013, 232-239.
• “Asylum Seekers and Habeas Corpus: Canada, the United States, Switzerland, Australia and International Law”, in Daniel Dormoy and Habib Slim, eds., Réfugiés, immigration clandestine et centres de rétention des immigrés clandestins en droit international, Brussels : Bruylant, 2008, 51-118 (with Olivia Le Fort). [in French]
• “World Court finds Serbia Responsible for Breaches of Genocide Convention, but Not Liable for Committing Genocide” ASIL Insights, 3 April 2007, online: www.asil.org/insights/2007/03/insights070403.html (with Jason Morgan-Foster).
• “Phenomenology of Alternative Dispute Resolution: Results, Process, and Symbolism” in C. Eberhard et G. Vernicos, eds., Liber Amicorum Étienne Le Roy, Paris : Éditions Karthala, 2006, 275-296 (with Roderick A. Macdonald). [in French]
• “The ICJ, Advisory Opinions and Judicial Function: Between Adjudication and Consultation” (2004) 42 Canadian Yearbook of International Law 35-90. [in French]
• “The International Court of Justice” (2004) 17.1 Revue québécoise de droit international 213-253 (with Antoine Ollivier) (case comment on the Oil Platforms ICJ case). [in French]
• “Quebec Judicial Practice of International Law – 2002” (2002) 15.2 Revue québécoise de droit international 77-114 (with Jean-Frédérick Ménard). [in French]

Client Alert Publications

• “ICSID: Prospects for Canadian Investors and Foreign Investors in Canada”, Winter 2008, International Disputes Quarterly, 15-18, online: http://www.whitecase.com.
• “Florida Court of Appeal Grants Parent Company’s Motion to Stay Proceedings Pending Subsidiary’s Arbitration”, October 2004, International Dispute Resolution, 8-9, online: http://www.whitecase.com (with Felix Weinacht).

Speaking Engagement List

• “Investment Arbitration Update”, Baltic Arbitration Days 2025, June 2025, Riga
• “International and comparative law research”, Inter-University Research Forum, 19 September 2024, University of Law, Tashkent
• “Strategies on the management of international trade and investment litigation in the context of accession to the WTO”, Conference on Uzbekistan’s Accession to the WTO, 12 September 2024, University of Law, Tashkent
• “Investigations and Enforcement”, Baltic Arbitration Days 2024, 2-3 June 2024, Riga (panel chair)
• “Electronic awards”, UNCITRAL digital project (during Paris Arbitration Week), 19 March 2024
• “Electronic awards”, UNCITRAL digital project (during Tokyo Dispute Resolution Forum), 13 March 2024
• “Transparency”, “Annulment” and novelties in the 2022 amendments to the ICSID Arbitration and AF Rules, 2024 Tokyo Dispute Resolution Forum, 13 March 2024
• 2024 Inaugural Lecture of the Energy in Transition and Arbitration University Diploma Program, Paris X-Nanterre University, 30 January 2024
• “Effective Cooperation of Legal Counsels and Quantum Experts”, GIAC (Georgia International Arbitration Center) conference, Tbilisi, 13 October 2023
• “Climate Change in International Investment and Trade Law”, Lex Climatica and Climate Governance in Africa, 25 September 2023
• “Compensating Damages – En route pour le milliard – What Repairs and for Whom”, Strategic Litigation concerning Mass Crimes, The Internationalist Toolbox in Defence of Common Interests, Angers, 30-31 August 2023 (discussant)
• Discussion on Investment Arbitration White Paper, 150th Anniversary conference of the International Law Association, 3 April 2023