International Arbitration

Samuel Witten has an extensive background in international law, the development and implementation of corporate compliance programs, international dispute settlement, and international law enforcement cooperation. Before joining Arnold & Porter, he served in the U.S. Department of State for 22 years, including 19 years in the Office of the Legal Adviser where he was Deputy Legal Adviser from 2001-2007. He also held three senior State Department foreign policy positions, including Acting Assistant Secretary of State, where he managed the State Department's international refugee assistance programs and the resettlement of refugees into the United States.

Mr. Witten helps companies develop and implement compliance programs and corrective actions related to the Foreign Corruption Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act, and other legislation. He advises companies on issues of corporate social responsibility. He also represents domestic and international clients in litigation and arbitrations and in domestic enforcement and regulatory matters, and has represented foreign governments in dispute resolution and public international law matters. His practice also includes economic sanctions and issues relating to international law enforcement cooperation.

Mr. Witten is the President of the Washington Foreign Law Society, a nonprofit group that advances understanding of international law and foreign affairs, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Women's Refugee Commission and the Board of Advocates of Human Right First.

Mr. Witten's State Department experience included:

• Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, supervising US relief efforts for refugees and managing an annual budget of over US$1.5 billion.
• Supervised the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs.
• Deputy Legal Adviser (equivalent to Deputy General Counsel), supervising State Department legal work in economic and business affairs (including economic sanctions); law enforcement and intelligence; environmental and science affairs; human rights and refugees; Western Hemisphere affairs; and East Asian affairs.
• Witness for US Government in public hearings on 39 treaties before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including the UN Convention Against Corruption and  the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention.
• Acting Director, State Department Office of War Crimes Issues, responsible for negotiating the return of detainees from Guantanamo, Cuba, to their countries of nationality.
• Assistant Legal Adviser for Law Enforcement and Intelligence: Chaired US delegations in law enforcement treaty negotiations and supervised the US government's international extradition program; supported the US Justice Department's international investigations and prosecutions.
• Staff Director, US Government Arbitration Team in the US-UK Arbitration over Heathrow Airport User Charges.
• Legal Counsel to US delegations in international human rights treaty negotiations in Geneva and New York.

Mr. Witten's other experience included Trial Attorney in the US Justice Department's Antitrust Division, helping increase cooperation between US and foreign antitrust agencies. He also worked as an associate on litigation and corporate matters at a major national law firm. After law school, he clerked for US District Judge Stanley Brotman of the US District Court for the District of New Jersey.