Sally Pei's practice spans a broad range of subject areas, with a particular focus on transnational disputes and foreign sovereign immunity. Sally has been the principal brief-writer in numerous cases in federal and state courts on behalf of foreign sovereigns, international entities, businesses, and individuals, including before the U.S. Supreme Court. She has argued before the Sixth, Ninth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits. In addition to her U.S. litigation practice, Sally advises clients in international arbitration proceedings. She has represented sovereign States in high-value investment treaty arbitrations across a range of industries, including the energy, telecommunications, and health care sectors.
Sally also maintains an active pro bono practice, with an emphasis on matters relating to immigrants' rights.
Before joining Arnold & Porter, Sally was a law clerk to the Honorable William A. Fletcher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She also served as a Legal Adviser to Judge O. Thomas Johnson at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, where she assisted the Tribunal in its consideration of a complex and high-profile dispute between the United States and Iran.
Sally graduated from Yale Law School, where she served as Articles Editor for the Yale Law Journal and Yale Journal of International Law, and received the Jerome Sayles Hess Fund Prize for excellence in the area of International Law. She was also a member of the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic and the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project.
Experience
- Webuild S.p.A. v. WSP USA, Inc., 108 F.4th 138 (2d Cir. 2024). Successfully represented Panama in moving to vacate order allowing discovery under Section 1782 in aid of ICSID arbitration.
- Comparelli v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, 2023 WL 2454540 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 3, 2023). Secured dismissal of claims against Venezuela arising out of the alleged seizure of a Venezuelan company involved in the sale of chemical products.
- Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Europe v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, 23 F.4th 1036 (D.C. Cir. 2022). Successfully represented Venezuela in obtaining dismissal of action to enforce arbitral award for failure to properly effect service under the Hague Service Convention.
- Scalin v. SNCF, 8 F.4th 509 (7th Cir. 2021). Secured and defended dismissal of claims against the French national railway for confiscation of property during World War II.
- Schermerhorn v. Israel, 876 F.3d 351 (D.C. Cir. 2017). Secured and defended dismissal of claims against the State of Israel arising out of the interception of the "Gaza flotilla" in May 2010.
- Cooper v. TEPCO, 960 F.3d 549 (9th Cir. 2020). Secured and defended dismissal of claims brought by former U.S. Navy sailors against General Electric arising from the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
- Imamura v. General Electric Co., 957 F.3d 98 (1st Cir. 2020). Secured and defended dismissal of claims brought by Japanese residents and businesses against General Electric arising from the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
- Nada v. United Arab Emirates, No. 24-cv-206 (D.D.C.). Representing the United Arab Emirates in litigation brought by oil trader alleging violations of RICO, the Lanham Act, and the Sherman Act.
- Alcazar Capital Partners Co. v. Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, No. 23-cv-186 (S.D.N.Y.). Representing the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq in action brought by Cayman Islands company seeking to enforce a default judgment obtained in Kuwait.
- Representing the European Commission as amicus curiae in numerous proceedings in U.S. courts in cases involving the attempted enforcement of intra-EU arbitral awards.
Perspectives
Recognition
Credentials
Education
- J.D., Yale Law School, 2013
- B.A. (Hons), Oriental Studies (Arabic and French), University of Cambridge, 2010, First Class Honors
Admissions
- District of Columbia
- California
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
Clerkships
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, The Honorable William A. Fletcher
- Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, The Honorable O. Thomas Johnson